01/02/2020 13:08

New paper in TAXON describes the oldest known carrot and the first evidence of Insular Woodiness

Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tax.12175

Abstract: Plants on oceanic islands can evolve insular syndromes such as secondary woodiness, a generalized trend found in island floras worldwide. This phenomenon occurs through evolution in situ. It is triggered by ecological and physiological stimuli that transform herbaceous annuals into woody perennials. However, well-dated and informative fossils that could help track and frame the evolution of this syndrome are lacking. Remarkably, in Madeira Island (Portugal), there are good examples of Apiaceae that evolved secondary woodiness, like the giant neoendemic Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus). Apiaceae has a very scarce fossil record, despite being a cosmopolitan family and an economically important crop. Here we describe the oldest Daucus s.l. fossil known to date and the first fossil evidence of a plant with insular woodiness. The fossils are preserved as mummified/compressed mericarps within 1.3-millionyear- old fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the Funchal unit, Upper Volcanic complex, near Porto da Cruz. We assign them to the extant neoendemic species Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus) decipiens. The mericarp morphology shows remarkable stasis since the Calabrian stage of the Early Pleistocene. Our results demonstrate that in the Madeiran Daucinae clade, insular woodiness developed at least 1.3 million years ago, indicating a coeval or earlier immigration toMadeira Island of a Daucus sp. Our results reinforce the role of palaeobotanical research in oceanic islands, supported by stratigraphy and geochronology studies, as a key element for the understanding of plant palaeobiogeography, ecology and evolution worldwide.We expect this contribution to shed light on the evolutionary origins of carrots, and related plant groups, an important element of human food, and to better comprehend the evolution of plant insular woodiness.

Keywords island syndromes; Macaronesia; Melanoselinum; neoendemic; palaeobotany; palaeocarpology

floras worldwide. This phenomenon occurs through evolution in situ. It is triggered by ecological and physiological stimuli that transform
herbaceous annuals into woody perennials. However, well-dated and informative fossils that could help track and frame the evolution
of this syndrome are lacking. Remarkably, in Madeira Island (Portugal), there are good examples of Apiaceae that evolved
secondary woodiness, like the giant neoendemic Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus). Apiaceae has a very scarce fossil record, despite being
a cosmopolitan family and an economically important crop. Here we describe the oldest Daucus s.l. fossil known to date and the first
fossil evidence of a plant with insular woodiness. The fossils are preserved as mummified/compressed mericarps within 1.3-millionyear-
old fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the Funchal unit, Upper Volcanic complex, near Porto da Cruz. We assign them to the extant
neoendemic species Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus) decipiens. The mericarp morphology shows remarkable stasis since the Calabrian stage
of the Early Pleistocene. Our results demonstrate that in the Madeiran Daucinae clade, insular woodiness developed at least 1.3 million
years ago, indicating a coeval or earlier immigration toMadeira Island of a Daucus sp. Our results reinforce the role of palaeobotanical
research in oceanic islands, supported by stratigraphy and geochronology studies, as a key element for the understanding of plant
palaeobiogeography, ecology and evolution worldwide.We expect this contribution to shed light on the evolutionary origins of carrots,
and related plant groups, an important element of human food, and to better comprehend the evolution of plant insular woodiness.
Keywords island syndromes; Macaronesia; Melanoselinum; neoendemic; palaeobotany; palaeocarpology

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29/03/2024 09:17

New paper: The conservation impact of botanical drones: Documenting and collecting rare plants from vertical cliffs and other hard-to-reach areas

    Reference: Nyberg, B., Bairos, C., Brimhall, M., Deans, S.M., Hanser, S., Heintzman, S., Hillmann Kitalong, A., Menezes de Sequeira, M., Nobert, N., Rønsted, N., Soaladaob, N., Wood, K.R., & Williams, A.M. 2024. The conservation impact of botanical drones: Documenting and...

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22/07/2023 16:45

New paper: Contribution to the flora of the Selvagens archipelago (Portugal) (I)

Abstract: Plant specimens obtained by the authors from several expeditions to the Selvagens Islands (2004-2021), complemented by the study of herbarium specimens, led to the identification of several new species records for the Selvagens archipelago, namely the taxa currently considered as Canary...

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19/05/2023 16:13

Madeira: an Atlantic garden of rarities | 25th and 26th May 2023, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal

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04/03/2023 15:26

New Paper: 1,3 Ma Flower and seed fossils Erica from Madeira Island

  Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal   Góis-Marques, C.A., de Nascimento, L., Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Madeira, J., & Menezes de Sequeira, M. in press....

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28/01/2023 16:14

New Paper: Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Andryala glandulosa subsp. cheiranthifolia (Cichorieae, Asteraceae) from Madeira Island, Portugal

New paper by Mª Zita Ferreira (GBM), Inés Álvarez Fernández (RJBM) & Miguel Menezes de Sequeira (GBM). Andryala subglabrata (DC) M.Z.Ferreira, Alv.Fern. & M.Seq., stat. & comb. nov. & Andryala glandulosa L. Abstract: Currently two subspecies of Andryala glandulosa...

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08/11/2022 17:44

Celebrating Richard Thomas Lowe’s 220th birthday

O Grupo de Botânica da Madeira (Faculdade de Ciências da Vida, Universidade da Madeira) organizará de 2 a 4 de Dezembro 2022 um evento comemorativo dos 220 anos do nascimento de Richard Thomas Lowe. Este simpósio inicia-se com uma visita à Holy Trinity Church, no Funchal, e termina no dia 4 com a...

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29/01/2021 09:37

New Paper: Goats eat emblematic but Critically Endangered species that was only described in 2007

Population decline in the Critically Endangered Musschia isambertoi (Campanulaceae) endemic to Desertas Islands (Madeira Archipelago) calls for urgent conservation management Abstract: Macaronesian islands display a high degree of plant endemicity and correspond to some of the most threatened...

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01/02/2020 13:08

New paper in TAXON describes the oldest known carrot and the first evidence of Insular Woodiness

Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal) Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tax.12175 Abstract: Plants on oceanic islands can evolve insular syndromes such as secondary woodiness, a generalized trend...

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17/11/2019 17:37

New Paper dealing with charcoalified wood from Faial Island

  New paper is out: Góis-Marques, C.A., Rubiales, J., de Nascimento, L., Menezes de Sequeira, M., Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Madeira, J., 2020. Oceanic Island forests buried by Holocene (Meghalayan) explosive eruptions: palaeobiodiversity in pre-anthropic volcanic charcoal from Faial...

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20/09/2019 14:46

New paper: Nomenclature and Typification of Names in the Ibero–North African Andryala arenaria (Asteraceae) and Taxonomic Implications

A new paper was published by our group, by Zita Ferreira, Inés Álvarez and Miguel Menezes de Sequeira, available here: novon.mobot.org/index.php/novon/article/view/297 Title: Nomenclature and Typification of Names in the Ibero–North African Andryala arenaria (Asteraceae) and Taxonomic...

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