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Published on: November 25, 2016

Early steps of angiosperm pollinator coevolution.

Shusheng Hu1, David L Dilcher, David M Jarzen

  • 1Department of Biology, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN 47150, USA. hus@ius.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|January 4, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Early flowering plants were insect-pollinated, with zoophily being the ancestral state. Fossil evidence from the Dakota Formation confirms insect pollination dominated during angiosperm diversification.

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Area of Science:

  • Paleobotany
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Pollen Analysis

Background:

  • The pollination biology of early angiosperms remains a key question in plant evolution.
  • Understanding pollination modes provides insights into the diversification of flowering plants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that early flowering plants were insect-pollinated.
  • To reconstruct the ancestral pollination mode of angiosperms.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of pollination biology in extant basal angiosperm families.
  • Character reconstruction using molecular phylogenetic trees.
  • Microscopic examination of fossil angiosperm pollen from the Dakota Formation (Cenomanian age).

Main Results:

  • Extant basal angiosperm families predominantly exhibit zoophily (insect pollination), with some specialized modes.
  • Character reconstruction suggests zoophily is the ancestral pollination state for angiosperms.
  • Fossil pollen analysis reveals a dominance of zoophilous pollination (76%) over wind pollination (24%) in the mid-Cretaceous.

Conclusions:

  • Early fossil angiosperms were predominantly insect-pollinated.
  • Zoophily, particularly by generalist and specialized insects, was a significant pollination strategy during early angiosperm diversification.
  • The study quantifies specialized pollination modes present during the mid-Cretaceous.