Search results for "angiosperm"
showing 10 items of 15 documents
Fossiliferous Holocene tufa of Mende (Lozère, southern France): implication for the Atlantic vegetation of the Causses Basin
2016
International audience; Tufas bearing plant macroremains are uncommon in the Causses Basin (southern France). Here, we report anew fossiliferous tufa deposits at Mende, in Lozère. This palaeontological site is the first Quaternary tufa from thenorthern part of the Causses Basin that yields such an abundance of plant macroremains. The radiocarbon dating showsthat these Holocene deposits are related to the Atlantic period. Geomorphology and mineralogy show that theplant-bearing deposit is a calcareous tufa only composed by calcite, deposited near to an outlet of cool water, linked tothe karstic hydrological system of the Causse de Mende. The flora exposed in this article is dominated by angio…
Albian flora from Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Charente-Maritime): comparison and synthesis of Cretaceous meso- and macro-remains from the Aquitaine Bas…
2017
International audience; Over recent decades, diverse structures ascribed to angiosperms, bennettitaleans, conifers, cycads, ginkgophytes and pteridosperms have been reported from the Cretaceous deposits of the Aquitaine Basin (southwestern France). However, Albian macrofloras remain uncommon in Aquitania as well as in France. The clay from the Archingeay-Les Nouillers quarries is one of the rare deposits of the Aquitaine Basin to yield Albian plant meso- and macro-remains. Although Albian plant-bearing beds are not accessible any more in these quarries, samples collected from excavations conducted at the end of the XXth century were deposited in the collections of the University of Rennes 1…
Flore turonienne des silex fossilifères de Châtellerault (Ouest de la France)
2018
International audience; Three new localities yielding fossiliferous flints are reported from the Châtellerault area (Vienne, western France). They include one archaeological site (La Grande Vallée) and two zones with alterite deposits (L’Aunas and Les Bariollières). Broken surfaces of flint nodules show co-occurrence of marine invertebrates such as bryozoans, echinoids (Micraster Agassiz, Orthopsis Cotteau), gastropods (Acteonella d’Orbigny), rudists, and sponges. The association of Acteonella, Micraster and Orthopsis confirms the Turonian age (Upper Cretaceous) of the fossil assemblage. The marine invertebrates co-occur with plant macroremains including fragments of conifer leafy axes such…
Staying cool: preadaptation to temperate climates required for colonising tropical alpine-like environments.
2018
Plant species tend to retain their ancestral ecology, responding to temporal, geographic and climatic changes by tracking suitable habitats rather than adapting to novel conditions. Nevertheless, transitions into different environments or biomes still seem to be common. Especially intriguing are the tropical alpine-like areas found on only the highest mountainous regions surrounded by tropical environments. Tropical mountains are hotspots of biodiversity, often with striking degrees of endemism at higher elevations. On these mountains, steep environmental gradients and high habitat heterogeneity within small spaces coincide with astounding species diversity of great conservation value. The …
The soursop genome and comparative genomics of basal angiosperms provide new insights on evolutionary incongruence
2019
AbstractDeep relationships and the sequence of divergence among major lineages of angiosperms (magnoliids, monocots and eudicots) remain ambiguous and differ depending on analytical approaches and datasets used. Complete genomes potentially provide opportunities to resolve these uncertainties, but two recently published magnoliid genomes instead deliver further conflicting signals. To disentangle key angiosperm relationships, we report a high-quality draft genome for the soursop (Annona muricata, Annonaceae). We reconstructed phylogenomic trees and show that the soursop represents a genomic mosaic supporting different histories, with scaffolds almost exclusively supporting single topologies…
Checklist of gypsophilous vascular flora in Italy
2018
Our understanding of the richness and uniqueness of the flora growing on gypsum substrates in Italy has grown significantly since the 19th century and, even today, new plant species are still being discovered. However, the plants and plant communities, growing on gypsum substrates in Italy, are still a relatively unknown subject. The main aim of this paper was to elaborate a checklist of the Italian gypsophilous flora, to increase knowledge about this peculiar flora and for which conservation efforts need to be addressed. Through a structured group communication process of experts (application of the Delphi technique), a remarkable number of experienced Italian botanists have joined togethe…
Synthetic cartography for mapping biodiversity in the Mediterranean region: Sicily as a case study
2018
This paper proposes a new hierarchical land classification system for the mapping of species distribution at national or regional scales. Our integrative framework incorporates two hierarchical levels inferred from historical, climatic, geomorphological and geological attributes. The feasibility of this proposal is based on the use of historical collections and literature data, as well as on its ability to combine old low-precision data with more recent records of higher resolution. The system is set up for vascular plants, but it can also be used for other taxonomic groups. Furthermore, it has the potential for application to the whole Mediterranean region because it is based on informatio…
Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes
2019
AbstractPlant–pollinator interactions have a fundamental influence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape influences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera preferences using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany; thus, avoiding influences of color, odor, or prior experience. Independent bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically designed to assess preferences for size, shape, brightness, or the number…
Exposure to a Highly Caloric Palatable Diet During Pregestational and Gestational Periods Affects Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels…
2016
Journal Article; Exposure to unbalanced diets during pre-gestational and gestational periods may result in long-term alterations in metabolism and behavior. The contribution of the endocannabinoid system to these long-term adaptive responses is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the impact of female rat exposure to a hypercaloric-hypoproteic palatable diet during pre-gestational, gestational and lactational periods on the development of male offspring. In addition, the hypothalamic and hippocampal endocannabinoid contents at birth and the behavioral performance in adulthood were investigated. Exposure to a palatable diet resulted in low weight offspring who exhibited low hypotha…
Hundreds of nuclear and plastid loci yield novel insights into orchid relationships.
2021
Pérez-Escobar, Oscar Alejandro, Dodsworth, Steven, Bogarín, Diego, Bellot, Sidonie, Balbuena, Juan A, Schley, Rowan J, Kikuchi, Izai A, Morris, Sarah K, Epitawalage, Niroshini, Cowan, Robyn, Maurin, Olivier, Zuntini, Alexandre, Arias, Tatiana, Serna-Sánchez, Alejandra, Gravendeel, Barbara, Torres Jimenez, Maria Fernanda, Nargar, Katharina, Chomicki, Guillaume, Chase, Mark W, Leitch, Ilia J, Forest, Félix, Baker, William J (2021): Hundreds of nuclear and plastid loci yield novel insights into orchid relationships. American journal of botany 108 (7): 1166-1180, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7778176