Abstract :
[en] Important floristic changes took place during the Early Cretaceous (145.0–100.5 Ma). They are notably marked by a peak in conifer diversity, especially within Pinaceae. This diversification is attested to by the numerous ovulate cone taxa found in the western European and North American fossil records. Exceptional deposits in the Wealden facies (Barremian-Albian, 125.0–100.5 Ma) of western Belgium (La Louvière, Houdeng-Aimeries) have yielded hundreds of exceptionally well-preserved pinaceous ovulate cones, yet most of these remain unstudied. These are presently revised. We investigate the morphological variation of the most abundant species, Pityostrobus andraei (Coemans) Seward 1919, with a morphometric approach. This work applies statistical tests to a large sample (n p 132 fossil cones) for the first time, using 10 measurements to characterize the morphology of the cones. Our analyses recover eight distinct morphotypes included in the original specific concept of P. andraei, and most of the specimens belong to two main morphotypes that represent 50% and 25% of the total specimens analyzed. Our results suggest that the specific diversity of early Pinaceae is underestimated, as it is based on older species concepts. Modern quantitative approaches have the potential to better characterize the breadth and tempo of pinaceous diversification.
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
0