Miocene Cupressinoxylon from Gökçeada (Imbros), Turkey with Protophytobia cambium mining and the study of ecological signals of wood anatomy

Premise The recognition of the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO) in terrestrial palaeoenvironments of the Eastern Mediterranean is restricted to Lesbos and Lemnos Islands, Greece. This area is significant for its wood microfossils. A recently-discovered fossil wood assemblage from Gökçeada (Imbros) Island, Turkey, including tree species similar to the Greek findings, is thought to have an early Miocene age. Here, we revise the age of the latter plant fossiliferous locality, re-evaluate the area for the study of MCO for the terrestrial palaeoecosystems of the Eastern Mediterranean and the nomenclature errors referring to the occurrence of fossil wood. We present the plant–insect–environment interactions using detailed anatomical descriptions, of an extinct conifer and its extinct cambium miner feeding traces observed in its secondary xylem. Methods Three thin sections were prepared with standard palaeoxylotomical techniques from a small section of the silicified wood; the sections were observed under a light microscope. The anatomy of the conifer and its damage patterns were compared with those of extant and fossil Cupressaceae and Agromyzidae, respectively. Pivotal results The common anatomical features of the studied wood specimen and Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (Hartw.) Bartel and a shared characteristic (the number of the cross-field pits – a feature we consider of diagnostic value) with Xanthocyparis vietnamensis Farjon & T.H. Nguyên led to its assignment to the Hesperocyparis–Xanthocyparis–Callitropsis clade. The detailed study of the wound scars and anatomical abnormalities, the anatomical–environmental associations, and structural–functional reactions follow the identification of the wood’s anatomy sensu Carlquist providing decisive results. Conclusions Based on the distinctive characteristics presented, we identify our macrofossil as Cupressinoxylon matromnense Grambast, a stem or an extinct lineage of the Hesperocyparis–Xanthocyparis vietnamensis–Callitropsis nootkatensis clade with feeding traces of the fossil cambium miner of the genus Protophytobia Süss (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and anatomical damage and reaction tissue on adventitious shoots. The use of Protopinaceae and Pinoxylon F. H. Knowlton from the eastern Mediterranean are re–evaluated and corrections are provided. The age of the studied plant fossiliferous locality in Gökçeada is revised as middle Miocene, allowing the proposal of an eastern Mediterranean MCO hotspot, including Lesbos, Lemnos, and Gökçeada (Imbros) Islands

The first report of an ‘evergreen Castanopsis type’ wood (Fagaceae) for the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene of Europe (Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad Graben)

In the present article, the establishment of the species Castanopsis: C. bulgarica Mantzouka, Ivanov, and Bozukov is proposed after the study of a new fagaceous fossil wood stem discovered in 2016 from a new Late Miocene to Early Pliocene plant fossiliferous locality east of Boboshevo town, south-west Bulgaria. A detailed palaeoxylotomical study of the fossil wood revealed characteristics of the ‘evergreen Quercus type’ (e.g. the gradual porosity of the vessels, the existence of two types of rays: uniseriate and multiseriate aggregate, the oval shape of the solitary vessels outline, the occurrence of tracheids) as well as heterocellular compound-aggregate rays, typical for Castanopsis. Similarities and differences of the anatomical characteristics/features of the studied specimen with the descriptions of the fossil representatives of Fagaceae (Quercoxylon, Lithocarpoxylon, and Castanopsis) along with its botanical affinities are discussed. A taxonomic list of the Bulgarian fossil fagaceous record of the same age and their nearest living relatives is provided. Emended xylotomical keys with the addition of Castanopsis have been created. Moreover, the presence of evergreen Castanopsis species with heterocellular rays of two distinct sizes in the fossil record of the ‘evergreen oak woods’ is supported

The first paleoxylotomical evidence from the Mid-Eocene Climate Optimum from Turkey

Petrified wood is important evidence of forest type and past climate. Studies from mainly the Neogene of Turkey described many fossil woods, and revealed valuable information about the paleoenvironment structure and climate. This is the first occurrence of plant macrofossils belonging to the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum, a crucial period in Earth's history, found in Turkey. The purpose of the present study is to investigate, for the first time, the Middle Eocene Climate Optimum of Turkey through the first identification of two paleoxylotomical findings of Lutetian age from Central-North Turkey. After working on the thin wood sections, a new fossil genus of Lauraceae, Actinodaphnoxylon gen. nov. was described with a type species of Actinodaphnoxylon zileensis sp. nov. Another coniferous specimen was described as Pinuxylon cf. P. tarnocziense. These species indicate the presence of warm, humid rainforest and lower mountain forest 40-41 million years ago in the middle Black Sea region (Tokat-Zile) of North-Central Turkey. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Two fossil conifer species from the Neogene of Alonissos Island (Iliodroma, Greece)

Mantzouka, Dimitra, Sakala, Jakub, Kvaček, Zlatko, Koskeridou, Efterpi, Ioakim, Chryssanthi (2019): Two fossil conifer species from the Neogene of Alonissos Island (Iliodroma, Greece). Geodiversitas 41 (3): 125-142, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2019v41a

Seagrass-Associated Molluscan and Fish Communities from the Early Pleistocene of the Island of Rhodes (Greece)

Well-preserved leaves and rhizomes of the Mediterranean endemic marine angiosperm Posidonia oceanica and the rich associated mollusc and fish fauna are contained in the early Pleistocene shallow siliciclastic sediments of the Kritika Formation of the island of Rhodes (Greece). The leaf moulds are preserved in fine-grained sands, whereas the rhizomes are found in situ within coarse-grained sediments. The associated molluscan fauna includes 79 species, 47 gastropods and 32 bivalves, most of them extant. The rhizome-associated community comprises 49 species and the leaves-associated community includes 30 species. Small gastropods grazing on microalgae (Rissoidae, Cerithiidae, Trochidae) are the most abundant elements of the fauna, however carnivorous gastropods (Nassariidae, Naticidae, Muricidae) are also diverse. Among the bivalves Lucinidae (e.g., Lucinella) numerically dominate the deeper infauna and other chemosymbiont bivalves, as Ungulinidae (Diplodonta) are also common. Although many species are not associated exclusively with this seagrass and they may occur in other environments as well, they generally thrive on P. oceanica leaves and rhizomes. The Posidonia oceanica meadows were also inhabited by several characteristic fish species which thrive in the seagrass meadows of the eastern Mediterranean until today. The studied fauna is the first reported from the early Pleistocene of Greece and shows similarities to the modern counterparts of Posidonia oceanica meadows, providing new data on the resilience of seagrass ecosystems to environmental change in general

Regional implications of U-Pb zircon ages from rhyolitic pebbles of Suncho Formation conglomerates, northern Sierras Pampeanas (NW Argentina)

Conglomerates are scarce in the Neoproterozoic/Cambrian strata of the South American Central Andean Basin. In NW Argentina, unusual conglomerates within meta-psammites of the Suncho Formation contain rhyolite clasts that yielded 524.9 ± 1.12 Ma and 525.1 ± 1.3 Ma LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon ages. These ages coincide with the reported youngest age populations obtained from detrital zircons in the host rocks. The new geochronological data, the regional geology and published data suggest that the source areas of these pebbles were located to the NE and E of the Suncho Formation, which may include some reworked older sedimentary levels of the Puncoviscana Formation. The origin of the Suncho conglomerate is linked to Pre-Tilcaric magmatism which closed the Pampean Cycle, whose ages are in the range 541-517 Ma. The match between the radiometric data and the age provided by the Oldhamia trace fossils with both sedimentary and magmatic events occurring during the Terreneuvian - Series 2 time span ("lower Cambrian") is here emphasized. Considering that the dated rhyolite clasts were derived from magmatic rocks, a Puncoviscana active margin can be proposed as their source, and an active margin setting is proposed for Puncoviscana in this part of the western margin of South America. The knowledge of unusual facies within the Neoproterozoic/Cambrian sequences in the South American Andes provides a better understanding of the geology of little known areas in the western protogondwanan margin.Fil: Toselli, Alejandro Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; ArgentinaFil: Aceñolaza, Guillermo Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; ArgentinaFil: Stipp Basei, Miguel Angelo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Aceñolaza, Guillermo Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; ArgentinaFil: Rossi, Juana Norma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; ArgentinaFil: Mantzouka, Dimitra. Universidad Nacional y Kapodistriaca de Atenas; GreciaFil: Tsaparas, Nicolaos. Universidad Nacional y Kapodistriaca de Atenas; GreciaFil: Karakitsios, Vasileios. Universidad Nacional y Kapodistriaca de Atenas; Greci