Sadowski & Hofmann
Kowalewski Symplocos. Bar scale – 1 cm.
Nationalgeographic.co.id—Fossil flower with a large inclusion has found a team of scientists trapped inside Baltic amber which is about 34 million years old. These findings are very rare and usually do not exceed 1 cm in size.
“Amber beautifully preserves the delicate organs of fossil flowers for millions of years. However, floral inclusions are rare and usually do not exceed 10 mm,” the researchers wrote.
“Here we report a very large flower of late Eocene Baltic amber, measuring 28 mm, which is approximately three times larger than most floral inclusions.”
This fossil was described more than 150 years ago as Stewart Kowalewski (Theaceae) and never revised. The rarity of these large flower inclusions is probably due to the size of the resin deposit and its properties which can affect the attachment of plant organs.
Symplocos kowalewskii, which measures 2.8 cm (1.1 in), is a fossil that is about three times as large as most flower inclusions.
The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports recently with the title “The largest amber-preserved flower revisited.”
Amber preserves organisms in three dimensions and with great precision, including arthropods, fungi, lichens, and small inclusions of seed plants, such as leaves, flowers, catkins, and pollen.
These inclusions are stated to be rare from the fossil record and may therefore yield new insights into ancient ecosystems ranging from the Triassic to the Cenozoic.
While arthropod inclusions are most abundant, plant inclusions are generally rare. Only 1-3% of all inclusions in Baltic amber are of plant origin.
Sadowski & Hofmann
Symplocos kowalewskii is about three times larger than most flower inclusions.
Although their extraordinary preservation often allows the designation of a genus or even a species, for the most part amber inclusions small botanicals.
For example, floral inclusions of Baltic amber are mostly between a few millimeters and about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) across.
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