Plant–insect interactions from the Late Pennsylvanian of the Iberian Peninsula (León, northern Spain)

We describe new evidences of plant-insect interactions from the Late Pennsylvanian of northern Iberian Peninsula (Leon, Spain). We document nine different Damage Types (DTs) among 216 fossil plant specimens. The interactions include four different Functional Feeding Groups (FFGs), including margin feeding (DT12 and DT13), hole feeding (DT09), galling (DT33, DT80, and DT116), and oviposition (DT67, DT100, and DT102) on Pteridophytes, Pteridospermatophytes, and Coniferophytes. Margin feeding and hole feeding were identified on different species of Polymorphopteris (P. polymorpha, P. cf. pseudobucklandii, and P. integra); galling on Mixoneura wagneri, Pecopteris apicalis, and Oligocarpia gutbieri; and oviposition on Polymorphopteris integra, Cordaites cf. angulostriatus and Polymorphopteris cf. integra. The oviposition scars represent the oldest record of oviposition from the Iberian Peninsula so far. In addition, it is the first evidence of plant-insect interactions on Oligocarpia and Polymorphopteris leaves in the area. These evidences reveal various ecological interactions between different groups of plants and insects in the Late Pennsylvanian forests of Spain, suggesting that these plants were a relevant source of food and lodge for a variety of arthropods (mainly insects). We also explore the possible culprits of these damages and the climatic implications.We appreciate the "Asociacion Paleontologica Alcarrena Nautilus" for the support received during the sampling works in open-cast mines in Leon. This work was supported by the project GRC2019/028 (ED431C-2019/28) of the Galician Government. Artai Santos is supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Galician Government (Department of Culture, Education and University Planning) co-financed by the European Social Fund (Ref: ED481A-2019/243). Funding for open access charge: Universidade de Vigo/CISUG. We also thank the editors, Dr. Esther Pinheiro, and one anonymous reviewer for the constructive suggestions that have helped to improve the manuscript. All the samples are in the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava (MCNA)

Late Carboniferous ecosystems in the NW Iberian Peninsula: plants, arthropods, and plant-arthropod interactions

Congreso realizado en Valencia del 4 al 7 de octubre de 2023.Peer reviewe

The First Representative of the Roachoid Family Spiloblattinidae (Insecta, Dictyoptera) from the Late Pennsylvanian of the Iberian Peninsula

Sysciophlebia ‘sp. form Villablino’, the first Iberian representative of the Palaeozoic–Early Mesozoic family Spiloblattinidae, is described and illustrated. Its forewing colour pattern is strongly similar to those of the Gzhelian–early-middle Asselian species Sysciophlebia euglyptica, Sysciophlebia ilfeldensis, Sysciophlebia rubida, and ‘Sysciophlebia sp. form KBQ’, supporting the currently proposed Gzhelian age for its type locality. It supports the use of the representatives of the Spiloblattinidae for stratigraphic purposes. The diagnoses and limits of the families Subioblattidae, Phyloblattidae, Compsoblattidae, Spiloblattinidae, and of the spiloblattinid genera are discussed

Late Carboniferous insects from the Iberian Peninsula: state of the art and new taxa

[EN] Here we present a state of the art of the Upper Carboniferous insects from the Iberian Peninsula, including new fossils of Panorthoptera (Archaeorthoptera), and of the orders Paoliida, Megasecoptera, and Palaeodictyoptera. These fossils are from Gzhelian deposits of different coalfields in León Province (Castilla y León, NW Spain). Among the insect orders, we have described the archaeorthopteran Hispanopteron romerali gen. et sp. nov., the Paoliida Simplexpaolia prokopi gen. et sp. nov., the megasecopterans Mischoptera bergidensis sp. nov. and Corydaloides leonensis sp. nov., in addition to an unnamed prothoracic winglet of palaeodictyopteran. The taxon Hispanopteron romerali is the sixth archaeorthopteran described or cited from the Iberian Peninsula, and increases the impressive diversity of the superorder. Simplexpaolia prokopi represents a new genus and species of latest Carboniferous Paoliidae and the first representative of this family in Spain. Corydaloides leonensis sp. nov. and Mischoptera bergidensis sp. nov. represent the second and third records of the order Megasecoptera in Spain, respectively, as well as the first specimens of the Corydaloididae and Mischopteridae families in the Iberian Peninsula. The deposition of these insect remains together with different fossils of plants, and the previously published evidence of diverse plant-insect interactions, suggest that the Gzhelian entomofauna found in the vegetation of these Carboniferous forests had already occupied numerous ecological niches under a tropical climate. In addition, we have carried out the review of all insect remains, and evidence of plant-insect interactions found so far from the Carboniferous of the Iberian Peninsula, observing a higher diversity than expected.Peer reviewe

Field experiments in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence during early austral fall

Joint Assembly IAPSO-AIAMA-IAGA , Good Hope for Earth Sciences, 27 August - 1 September 2017, Cape Town, South AfricaWe present the results of two field experiments carried in early austral fall over the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC) onboard the R/V Hespérides, each approximately lasting two weeks. The first experiment (March 2015) began encircling the BMC with hydrographic stations (lowered ADCP, CTD and water samples) along a perimeter of about 1200 km, in order to identify the water masses and fluxes reaching the BMC, and then sampled the collision region with six 100-km long and 400-m deep cross-frontal hydrographic sections. Data was also obtained from the vessel ADCP (velocities down to about 600 m), eight subsurface drifters and nine Argo floats. Here we describe the fluxes and structure of the BMC at three different scales: frontal, confluence and regional. The frontal sampling, approximately comprising a 200 km x 100 km region, shows intense cross-frontal property gradients (e.g. up to 20ºC in about 10 km at 50 m depth), numerous thermohaline intrusions (10-100 m thick, 10 km wide and 10-50 km long) and a very shallow (5-20 m) and fast (velocities close to 1.8 m/s) eastward surface brackish (salinities of 32-33) filament on the warm side of the front (narrowing from some 100 km over the slope to only a few kilometers in the outer stations). The confluence sampling followed the border of a 400 km x 200 km rectangle that encompassed the entire collision of the two impinging currents, characterized by large water recirculation in adjacent vortices (two anticyclones and one cyclone at distances less than 500 km from the collision point) before the eastward flushing along the frontal system. Finally, we used the ARMOR3D fields (Guinehut et al., 2012, Ocean Sci. 8, 845-857) to characterize the regional flow patterns and water masses, from 31ºS to 45ºS and from 38ºW to the continental platform. The second experiment (April 2017) will focus on the temporal and latitudinal evolution of the frontal system. It will include hydrographic and microstructure stations, the deployment of drifters and floats, and a towed vehicle to sample the uppermost 400 m of the water columnPeer Reviewe