First plant-insect interactions on Cretaceous Caytoniales (genus Sagenopteris) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Spain. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sender, Luis M.; Wappler, Torsten; García-Ávila, Manuel; Santos, Artai A.; Diez, José B.
• Is Part Of: Cretaceous research. Volume 138(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Herbivory -- Insect-damage -- Caytoniales -- Sagenopteris -- Early Cretaceous -- Spain; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Cretaceous -- Periodicals; 551.77
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105295
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0195-6671

Abstract

Abstract: Specimens of the extinct seed fern Sagenopteris were evaluated from the Lower Cretaceous of Alcaine village in Teruel Province, north-eastern Spain. Arthropod-mediated plant damage types (DTs) were categorized for 75 specimens of this host. The leaflets occur in deposits of coastal fluvial and lacustrine environments linked to an Albian delta-estuary system. It is the first time that insect herbivory has been reported on Early Cretaceous Caytoniales. Five Functional Feeding Groups have been identified: hole feeding, margin feeding, skeletonization, mining, and piercing and sucking), which correspond to a wide variety of feeding strategies on leaflets. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: First evidence of interactions on leaves from an Early Cretaceous pteridosperm. Several Functional Feeding Groups on leaflets of Albian Caytoniales. A wide variety of insect damages on a single leaflet of Sagenopteris.