| Abstract Detail
Paleobotanical Section Gorman, Mark [1], Dunn, Michael [2]. The earliest record of insect herbivory presents a diversity of damage types. Romer’s Gap refers to a 10-15 million year span from the latest Famennian to the late Visean in which the known terrestrial fossil record is sparse. Seed-plants, tetrapods, and insects all appear to diversify significantly during this interval. For example, Devonian insects comprise only two orders that are flightless and trophically limited to predators and detritivores, while flight and herbivory are both present among the diverse insect lineages that postdate Romer’s Gap. Some of the best North American record of this interval occurs along the east coast in strata that stretch from the Virginias to New York falling under a variety of formational names including the Tournaisian Alta locality of the Price Formation in eastern West Virginia. The Alta locality preserves a deltaic environment with a vegetation including the non-laminate taxa Chlidanophyton sp. and Protobarinophyton sp., the seed taxa Lagenospermum imparirameum and Gnetopsis sp., and the laminate taxa Genselia compacta and Charbeckia macrophylla. A re-evaluation of this previously described flora has revealed the presence of insect herbivory on the laminate taxa. Four functional damage types are present with multiple damage types present in each laminate leaf species. Thus, arthropod herbivory may have been a more prevalent part of terrestrial ecosystems earlier than currently recognized. Broader Impacts:
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1 - University of Chicago, Geophysical Sciences, 5734 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
2 - CAMERON UNIVERSITY, 2800 Gore Blvd, LAWTON, OK, 73505, USA
Keywords:
herbivory
Tournaisian
laminate
Price Formation.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 12
Location: Melrose/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 12003
Abstract ID:528
Candidate for Awards:Isabel Cookson Award,Maynard F. Moseley Award |
