''Droseridites'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s of possible droseracean or nepenthacean affinity. It is a

form taxon Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology (biology), morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncer ...

known only from fossil

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

. Species assigned to this genus originate from numerous regions of the world, including

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

),Krutzsch, W. 1985. Über ''Nepenthes''-Pollen im europäischen Tertiär. ''Gleditschia'' 13: 89–93.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

,Saxena, R.K. & G.K. Trivedi 2006. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow.

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

,Ibrahim, M.I.A. 1996. Aptian-Turonian palynology of the Ghazalat-1 Well (GTX-1), Qattara Depression, Egypt. ''Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology'' 94(1–2): 137–168. the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, and the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

.Meimberg, H., A. Wistuba, P. Dittrich & G. Heubl 2001. Molecular phylogeny of Nepenthaceae based on cladistic analysis of plastid trnK intron sequence data. ''Plant Biology (Stuttgart)'' 3(2): 164–175. This genus is characterised by inaperturate and spinose pollen grains that are united in loose tetrahedral tetrads (groups of four). The grains are prolate, striate, and tricolpate. The colpi are slender and long, whereas the striae are very fine, densely packed, and situated parallel to the polar axis.

Species

''Droseridites spinosus'', the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, has been recorded from the

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

of the

Ehrendorfer, F. 1989
''Woody Plants—Evolution and Distribution Since the Tertiary''
Springer-Verlag, Vienna. and the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, including the Warkalli Formation ( Bharathi and Kundra Clay Mines,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

) and the Sindhudurg Formation ( Mavli Mine at Redi,

Sindhudurg District Sindhudurg district (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡə is an administrative district of the Konkan division in India, which was carved out of the erstwhile Ratnagiri district. The district headquarters are located at Oros. The d ...

, Maharashtra). It is of possible nepenthacean affinity. Specimens identified in the literature as ''D.''

cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin or , both meaning 'compare') is generally used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. However some sources offer differing or even contr ...

''spinosus'' have also been reported from Hungarian

deposits. ''Droseridites baculatus'' was described from the Ghazalat-1 Well,

Qattara Depression The Qattara Depression () is a depression (geology), depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depression lies below sea ...

, Egypt. ''Droseridites echinosporus'' has been recorded from

strata and is a member of a group of similar species that have been interpreted as belonging to the genus ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are m ...

''. Sites for ''D. major'', a possible nepenthacean species, include the Tertiary of Europe and the

Palaeocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palai ...

-early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Rekmangiri Coalfield of

Garo Hills The Garo Hills (IPA: ˈgɑ:ro:) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in the Meghalaya state of India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecor ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

, India. ''Droseridites parvus'' was originally described from the lower Eocene Cherry Formation of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, India. It has also been recorded from the

Tura Formation of the "'' Retialetes emendatus'' zone" in Assam and the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

Dharmsala and Siwalik ( Dharmsala and Nurpur areas,

Kangra District Kangra district is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of ...

, Himachal Pradesh). The species is characterised by wart-like sculpturing and is "presently impossible to interpret". Pollen matching the description of ''D. senonicus'' has been found in formations of the

dating to as early as the

Middle Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geologi ...

to late

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...

, and it has been suggested that this species may represent an early

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

taxon. Unidentified ''Droseridites'' palynomorphs have been recorded from numerous sites in India, including the

Cuddalore Formation (Neyveli Lignitefield,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

), the

Tura Formation (Langrin Coalfield,

Khasi Hills The Khasi Hills () are a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in the Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connect with the Purvanchal Range and the larger Patkai Range further east. The ...

, Meghalaya), the Palaeocene Seam No. 1 (Rekmangiri Coalfield,

, Meghalaya), and the Oligocene-Neogene Dharmsala and Siwalik.

Taxonomy

Pollen of a number of species originally described under the genus ''Droseridites'' has been tentatively assigned to ''

''. In 1985, Wilfried Krutzsch transferred three species of the "''D. echinosporus'' group", creating the new combinations ''Nepenthes echinatus'', ''N. echinosporus'', and ''N. major''.Krutzsch, W. 1989. Paleogeography and historical phytogeography (paleochorology) in the Neophyticum. ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 162(1–4): 5–61. Cheek, M.R. & M.H.P. Jebb 2001. Nepenthaceae. ''Flora Malesiana'' 15: 1–157. However, at more than 40 μm in diameter, the tetrads of ''D. major'' are larger than those of any known extant ''Nepenthes'', and within the lower range of extant ''

Drosera ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genus, genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucil ...

'' tetrads. Pollen from the

originally described as ''D. spinosus'' has also been interpreted as belonging to ''Nepenthes''. Some authors consider ''D. major'' and ''D. parvus'' as synonyms of ''Nepenthidites laitryngewensis'' of the Palaeocene Lakadong Sandstone in Laitryngew,

, Meghalaya, India.Kumar, M. 1995. Pollen tetrads from Palaeocene sediments of Meghalaya, India: comments on their morphology, botanical affinity and geological records. ''Palaeobotanist'' 43(1): 68–81.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5308571 Droseraceae Extinct carnivorous plants Prehistoric angiosperm genera Paleocene life