Generalist Pollen-Feeding Beetles during the Mid-Cretaceous

Summary

The Cretaceous fossil record of amber provides a variety of evidence that is essential for greater understanding of early pollination strategies. Here, we describe four pieces of ca. 99-million-year-old (early Cenomanian) Myanmar amber from Kachin containing four closely related genera of short-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Kateretidae) associated with abundant pollen grains identified as three distinct palynomorphotypes of the gymnosperm Cycadopites and Praenymphaeapollenites cenomaniensis gen. and sp. nov., a form-taxon of pollen from a basal angiosperm lineage of water lilies (Nymphaeales: Nymphaeaceae). We demonstrate how a gymnosperm to angiosperm plant-host shift occurred during the mid-Cretaceous, from a generalist pollen-feeding family of beetles, which served as a driving mechanism for the subsequent success of flowering plants.

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

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  A gymnosperm to angiosperm plant-host shift is denoted during the mid-Cretaceous

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  Kateretidae beetles are among the earliest pollinators of angiosperms

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  Mesozoic direct evidences of angiosperm pollination just started to arise

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  Praenymphaeapollenites is defined as a new angiosperm pollen morphotype

Abstract

Biological Sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionary Ecology; Paleobiology