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Miocene Palynomorphs of Taiwan

Pollen grains from the Miocene of Taiwan, at x900 magnification. Grains from Droserapollis gemmatus are labeled numbers 5 and 6. (Huang 1978)

Droserapollis is a type of Cenozoic sundew. It is only known from fossil pollen.

Description[]

The pollen of Droserapollis resembles that of the modern genus Drosera.[1] Because of this, it is likely that the whole Droserapollis plant closely resembled a Drosera plant.

Individual pollen grains of Droserapollis are prolate and can measure anywhere from 25 to 40 nanometers.

Classification[]

Droserapollis has been assigned to the family Droseraceae, which today contains species of plant such as modern sundews and Venus flytraps. It was described by W. Krutzsch in 1970.[2]

There are four know species: D. gemmatus, D. khasiensis, D. lusaticus, and D. taiwanensis.

Distribution[]

Droserapollis fossils have been found across Eurasia in both place and time. D. khasiensis has been found in the Paleocene-age Lakadong Sandstone of India[3][4], while D. gemmatus has been found in the Miocene-age Yutengping Sandstone of Taiwan,[5] although both of these are poorly preserved.[6] Palynomorphs (microfossils) believed to come from Droserapollis have also been found in Germany.

References[]

  1. Song, Z.-C., W.-M. Wang & F. Huang 2004. Fossil pollen records of extant angiosperms in China. The Botanical Review 70(4): 425–458. doi:10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0425:FPROEA]2.0.CO;2
  2. Krutzsch, W. 1970. Zur Kenntnis fossiler disperser Tetradenpollen. Paläontologische Abhandlungen Abteilung B, Paläobotanik 3(3): 399–433.
  3. Kumar, M. 1995. Pollen tetrads from Palaeocene sediments of Meghalaya, India: comments on their morphology, botanical affinity and geological records. Palaeobotanist 43(1): 68–81.
  4. Saxena, R.K. & G.K. Trivedi 2006. A Catalogue of Tertiary Spores and Pollen from India. PDF Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow.
  5. Huang, T.-C. 1978. Miocene palynomorphs of Taiwan. II. Tetrad grains. PDF Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica 19: 77–81.
  6. Degreef, J.D. 1989. Early history of Drosera and Drosophyllum. PDF Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 18(3): 86–89.
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