Abstract Detail

Campanian-Maastrichtian floras on Laramidia: vegetation trends west of the seaway

Maccracken, Sarah Augusta [1], Miller, Ian M. [2], Mitter, Charles [3], Labandeira, Conrad C. [4].

Insect Herbivory of the Kaiparowits Formation Flora, Late Cretacous (Campanian) of Utah.

Plant-insect associations are becoming increasingly well documented in the fossil record, yet many reconstructions of ancient ecosystems continue to omit insects and insect herbivory. Western Interior fossils of phytophagous insects are relatively rare and known from only a small number of Late Cretaceous amber deposits. However, evidence for the damage that phytophagous insects inflict—the punctures, skeletonization, galls and leaf mines in fossil leaves—provide abundant evidence about deep-time species interactions. The Kaiparowits Formation (Late Cretaceous, 76.6–74.5 Ma) of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in south-central Utah has a well-documented paleontological record that continues to enhance our understanding of ecology and biogeography of Campanian ecosystems. Insect herbivory was analyzed for a portion of the Kaiparowits flora in an effort to characterize the diversity of plants and insect damage types. Of the ~800 identifiable leaf specimens, the majority of which are dicotyledons, 42% exhibit insect mediated damage. There are 52 distinct insect damage types categorized into eight functional feeding groups: hole feeding, surface feeding, skeletonization, leaf mining, oviposition, piercing and sucking, galling, and seed predation. This is the first research to describe and quantify plant-insect associations of the Kaiparowits Formation, which will augment reconstructions of Laramidian ecosystems.

1 - Smithsonian Inst. National Museum of Natural History, Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, MRC 121, Washington, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 20013-7012, United States
2 - Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Earth Sciences, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO, 80205, USA
3 - University of Maryland, Entomology, 4291 Fieldhouse Drive, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA
4 - Smithsonian Inst. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, MRC 121, Washington, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 20013-7012, United States

Keywords:
herbivory
plant-insect associations
Kaiparowits
insect damage
Campanian.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: CO3, Campanian-Maastrichtian floras on Laramidia: vegetation trends west of the seaway
Location: Sundance 3/Omni Hotel
Date: Wednesday, June 28th, 2017
Time: 9:15 AM
Number: CO3004
Abstract ID:170
Candidate for Awards:None