Taxonomic description of in situ bee pollen from the middle Eocene of Germany.

ABSTRACT: The middle Eocene Messel and Eckfeld localities are renowned for their excellently preserved faunas and diverse floras. Here we describe for the first time pollen from insect-pollinated plants found in situ on well-preserved ancient bees using light and scanning electron microscopy. There have been 140 pollen types reported from Messel and 162 pollen types from Eckfeld. Here we document 23 pollen types, six from Messel and 18 from Eckfeld (one is shared). The taxa reported here are all pollinated by insects and mostly not recovered in the previously studied dispersed fossil pollen records. Typically, a single or two pollen types are found on each fossil bee specimen, the maximum number of distinct pollen types on a single individual is five. Only five of the 23 pollen types obtained

SUBMITTER: Grimsson F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5161302 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature