| Abstract Detail
Paleobotanical Section Martínez, Camila [1], Jaramillo, Carlos [2], Madrinan, Santiago [1]. Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous) Piper fossil from Colombia and the inferred patterns of diversification of the genus. The new fossil Schillerites guaduaensis from the late Cretaceous of Colombia is the first macrofossil record associated with Piperaceae. The study of S. guaduaensis within a phylogenetic framework helps understand the evolutionary history of Piper. Leaf architecture characters of forty-two leaf compressions from the Guaduas Formation of Colombia were compared with 325 extant angiosperm species, of which 255 belong to Piperaceae. The phylogenetic position of S. guaduaensis was established on the basis of combined analysis of both a molecular topology and a morphological matrix. A unique combination of characters supports natural affinities for the fossil leaves with the clade Schilleria of the genus Piper. These are long petioles with excentric peltate insertion, cordate mesophyllous lamina with idioblasts, pinnate primary venation, agrophic veins, and basal-most secondary veins alternate nested at the base of the lamina. The calibration indicates that Piper originated in the Early Cretaceous, its diversification started since the Late Cretaceous increasing gradually until the end of the Paleogene when the diversification rate saugmented rapidly. Schillerites guaduaensis suggest that Piper during the Late Cretaceous was an understory plant of warm and wet forests. The high number of Piper species can be explained by its relatively old age coupled with bursts of diversification, particularly during the end of the Paleogene when exponential rates of diversification are observed probably due to the uplift of the Andes and origin of the Amazon rainforest. Broader Impacts:
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1 - Universidad de los Andes, Botánica y Sistemática, Cra. 1 #18A-10, Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
2 - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology, Roosvelt Ave., Balboa, Ancón, Panama, Panama, Panama
Keywords:
Colombia
Dated phylogeny
Fossil leaves
Guaduas Formation
Late Cretaceous
Maastrichtian
Paleobotany
Piper
PIperaceae.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 19
Location: Union A/Hyatt
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 3:45 PM
Number: 19001
Abstract ID:272 |
