Plant-Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History: Evidence from the Cretaceous of Israel

224 Pages·2008·3.05 MB·English

by  Valentin Krassilov

Acarorum Catalogus I 1
PLANT – ARTHROPOD INTERACTIONS IN THE
EARLY ANGIOSPERM HISTORY
Evidence from the Cretaceous of Israel
Editors
Valentin Krassilov & Alexander Rasnitsyn
2 Plant – Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History
Acarorum Catalogus I 3
Plant – Arthropod
Interactions in the Early
Angiosperm History
Evidence from the Cretaceous of Israel
Editors
Valentin Krassilov
&
Alexander Rasnitsyn
Sofia – Moscow
2008
4 Plant – Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History
PLANT – ARTHROPOD INTERACTIONS IN THE EARLY ANGIOSPERM HISTORY
Evidence from the Cretaceous of Israel
Editors:
Valentin Krassilov
Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa and Paleontological Institute, Moscow
E-mail: [email protected]
Alexandr Rasnitsyn
Paleontological Institute, Moscow and Natural History Museum, London UK,
E-mail: [email protected]
First published 2008
ISBN 978–954–642-315-3
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Contents 5
Contents
PART I
Traumas on Fossil Leaves from the Cretaceous of Israel
1. Introduction 9
2. Acknowledgements 11
3. Material and methods 12
4. Stratigraphic overview of Cretaceous fossil plant/insect
localities in Israel and adjacent countries 15
5. Plant communities 20
6. Taphonomy of phyllostigmas 25
7. Functional morphology of phyllostigmas 29
8. Morphological classification of phyllostigmas 28
9. Diversity of Cretaceous phyllostigmatic structures 41
10. Plant – arthropod interactions 50
11. Environmental variables 62
12. Systematic descriptions of phyllostigmas 65
References 124
Plates 133
6 Plant – Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History
PART II
Fossil Insects in the Cretaceous Mangrove Facies of Southern Negev, Israel
1. Introduction 191
2. Systematic description 193
3. Conclusion 210
4. Acknowledgements 213
References 214
Plates 217
2. Acknowledgements 7
PART I
Traumas on Fossil Leaves from the
Cretaceous of Israel
by
Valentin Krassilov
in cooperation with
Natalia Silantieva
&
Zeev Lewy
8 PART I: Traumas on Fossil Leaves from the Cretaceous of Israel
TRAUMAS ON FOSSIL LEAVES FROM THE CRETACEOUS OF ISRAEL
by
Valentin Krassilov
Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa and Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Contributors:
Natalia Silantieva* and Zeev Lewy**
*Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa
**Geological Survey of Israel
1. Introduction 9
1. Introduction
Plant – arthropod interactions are generally recognized as a major force under the evolution-
ary developments in both plants and arthropods, as well as of the terrestrial ecosystems as a
whole. Yet surprisingly little was made for exploring the fossil record for documentation and
understanding of these fruitful interactions over times. To enlist fossil plants and arthropods
coming from one and the same locality or to depict insect traces on fossil leaves is the first
step requiring an analytical procedure for further advancements.
Since in Israel even the first step had been but timidly made, it was our task, after de-
scribing the fossil flora from the richest Cretaceous locality (Krassilov et al., 2005), to provide
an inventory of insect body fossils and of the mite and insect traces on fossil plants. Yet we
attempted a step further into the realm of structural and functional relationships linking
morphology to ecosystem evolution.
The Cretaceous of Negev provides the richest regional material of arthropod traces on
fossil leaves (phyllostigmas) at the time of a major restructuring stage in the history of terres-
trial ecosystems brought about by the advent and rise of angiosperms. In the middle of Creta-
ceous period already, these newcomers have surpassed all the other groups of higher plants in
the diversity of their foliar and floral structures, as well as in the plasticity of their life forms.
These developments were matched, and perhaps enhanced, by the burst of adaptive radia-
tion in the leaf parasites providing ample evidence of plant – arthropod co-evolution. The
material is favorably preserved for developing morphological classification of fossil traces,
which is necessary for further accumulation and processing of the data.
The insect body fossil fauna of Negev is not so rich, but of general interest on account of
its paleogeographic situation and paleoecological settings, in particular, the early angiosperm
mangrove habitats. Some insect taxa appear surprisingly modern in comparison with their
contemporaries north of the Tethys having their closest relatives in the younger Cretaceous
and Tertiary assemblage elsewhere. Fortunately, stratigraphic control is rigorous enough for
all the insect localities in Israel, and the modern-looking faunistic elements are just evidence
of high rate morphological evolution in the insect groups directly or indirectly linked to the
explosive angiosperm radiation.
Traces of arthropod feeding and habitation on fossil leaves may add to the diversity of
contemporaneous fossil faunas, because the trace makers (both miners and gall inducers) are
rarely if at all represented in the body fossil assemblages. Yet classification of traces primar-
ily reflects the diversity of habits, being indirectly, and sometimes ambiguously, related to
taxonomic diversity. In the trace studies, parasitic habits are inferred from the structures these
habits induced or produced. It must be said from the very beginning that our comparison
with phyllostigmas of modern arthropods do not imply taxonomic affinities, but indicate
similarity of behavioral traits that has an evolutionary history of their own.
10 PART I: Traumas on Fossil Leaves from the Cretaceous of Israel
Moreover, since parasitic behavior is regulated by the host responses on the one hand,
and by the secondary parasites (parasitoids) and predators on the other, and insofar as we
can infer the effectiveness of regulation from such structural features as selectivity of preda-
tion marks, or the marks of temporary mining, as well as form the co-occurrence of various
phyllostigmas and their on leaf diversity, the paleoecological dream of observing extinct
ecosystems in action nearly comes true.