A new proposal concerning the botanical origin of Baltic amber |
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Authors: | Alexander P. Wolfe Ralf Tappert Karlis Muehlenbachs Marc Boudreau Ryan C. McKellar James F. Basinger Amber Garrett |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada;2.School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, South Adelaide 5005, Australia;3.Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK;4.Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E2, Canada |
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Abstract: | Baltic amber constitutes the largest known deposit of fossil plant resin and the richest repository of fossil insects of any age. Despite a remarkable legacy of archaeological, geochemical and palaeobiological investigation, the botanical origin of this exceptional resource remains controversial. Here, we use taxonomically explicit applications of solid-state Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy, coupled with multivariate clustering and palaeobotanical observations, to propose that conifers of the family Sciadopityaceae, closely allied to the sole extant representative, Sciadopitys verticillata, were involved in the genesis of Baltic amber. The fidelity of FTIR-based chemotaxonomic inferences is upheld by modern–fossil comparisons of resins from additional conifer families and genera (Cupressaceae: Metasequoia; Pinaceae: Pinus and Pseudolarix). Our conclusions challenge hypotheses advocating members of either of the families Araucariaceae or Pinaceae as the primary amber-producing trees and correlate favourably with the progressive demise of subtropical forest biomes from northern Europe as palaeotemperatures cooled following the Eocene climate optimum. |
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Keywords: | Baltic amber conifer resin Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy Sciadopityaceae Sciadopitys verticillata Eocene |
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