title: Carnivorous leaves from Baltic amber.
abstract: The fossil record of carnivorous plants is very scarce and macrofossil evidence has been restricted to seeds of the extant aquatic genus Aldrovanda of the Droseraceae family. No case of carnivorous plant traps has so far been reported from the fossil record. Here, we present two angiosperm leaves enclosed in a piece of Eocene Baltic amber that share relevant morphological features with extant Roridulaceae, a carnivorous plant family that is today endemic to the Cape flora of South Africa. Modern Roridula species are unique among carnivorous plants as they digest prey in a complex mutualistic association in which the prey-derived nutrient uptake depends on heteropteran insects. As in extant Roridula, the fossil leaves possess two types of plant trichomes, including unicellular hairs and five size classes of multicellular stalked glands (or tentacles) with an apical pore. The apices of the narrow and perfectly tapered fossil leaves end in a single tentacle, as in both modern Roridula species. The glandular hairs of the fossils are restricted to the leaf margins and to the abaxial lamina, as in extant Roridula gorgonias. Our discovery supports current molecular age estimates for Roridulaceae and suggests a wide Eocene distribution of roridulid plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sadowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
authors.forename: Leyla J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Seyfullah
authors.affiliation: Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany;
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sadowski
authors.affiliation: Botanische Staatssammlung München, 80638 Munich, Germany; and.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleischmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Behling
authors.affiliation: Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany; alexander.schmidt@geo.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Alexander R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D018647:Amber; D001454:Baltic States; D060435:Carnivory / Q000502:physiology*; D031257:Droseraceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005580:Fossils; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D018647:Amber
keywords: Eocene; Ericales; Roridulaceae; plant carnivory