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11 August 2021 Symplocos Fruits from the Pliocene of Colombia
Steven R. Manchester, Terry A. Lott, Fabiany Herrera, Henry Hooghiemstra, Vincent M. Wijninga, Peter W. Fritsch
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Abstract

Fossil fruits of Symplocos (Ericales: Symplocaceae) are here recognized from the Pliocene of Guasca, Colombia, based on specimens formerly attributed to Cordia (Cordiaceae, Boraginales). Symplocos vera (Berry) comb. nov. is represented by 19 lignitized fruits. The fossils are recognized as belonging to Symplocos primarily by their woody endocarps that are apically truncate and that possess 3 to 5 apical germination pores and locules, and a central vascular canal extending the length of the endocarp. In several key characters they are highly congruent with the endocarps of the extant Neotropical clade S. ser. Symplocos. Some of the extant species in the series are variably 3- to 5-locular; 4-locular endocarps are otherwise rare in Symplocos, and 5-locular endocarps appear to be unique to this series. Symplocos vera is the only specifically named record of fossil Symplocos fruits with accessible voucher specimens from South America. The younger Neogene age of the fossils relative to those attributed to S. ser. Symplocos from the late Eocene of Texas, along with a report of Colombian fossil endocarps from the middle Miocene, supports the North America to South America migration inferred for this clade from molecular phylogenetic data.

© Copyright 2021 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists
Steven R. Manchester, Terry A. Lott, Fabiany Herrera, Henry Hooghiemstra, Vincent M. Wijninga, and Peter W. Fritsch "Symplocos Fruits from the Pliocene of Colombia," Systematic Botany 46(2), 416-421, (11 August 2021). https://doi.org/10.1600/036364421X16231782047398
Published: 11 August 2021
KEYWORDS
biogeography
endocarps
fossils
South America
Symplocaceae
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