This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/issues/v07n03/kkar1828.pdf.Question: What evidence is there for cycad–insect interactions in the fossil record?
Organism: The pollen cone Delemaya spinulosa Klavins, Taylor, Krings et Taylor.
Locality: Fremouw Formation (Middle Triassic), Fremouw Peak, Central Transantarctic
Mountains, Antarctica.
Methods: We document the presence of pollen-laden coprolites in pollen sacs of a Middle
Triassic cycad.
Conclusions: These coprolites are comparable with fecal pellets of modern arthropods and we suggest that they were produced by beetles. This provides the oldest unequivocal evidence for a cycad–insect interaction and may represent a precursory stage in the establishment of a more complex cycad–pollinator relationship
