- 219 views
- 447 downloads
Fossil taxa in the family Pinaceae, and their phylogenetic implications
-
- Author / Creator
- Klymiuk, Ashley Annette
-
Although the peak diversity of Pinaceae is reflected by many Cretaceous seed cones representing extinct genera, the oldest definitive record of the family is attributable to an extant genus. A seed cone discovered at the Valanginian Apple Bay locality extends the record of Picea by ~75 Ma, resolving a ghost lineage predicted by molecular dating analyses. However, a pine from the Eocene Princeton Chert indicates that extant genera are themselves relicts of greater historical diversity. Pinus arnoldii Miller is reconstructed here as the first organismal concept for an extinct member of Pinaceae, on the basis of anatomical attachments between the seed cones attributable to Subgenus Pinus, and vegetation like that of Subgenus Strobus. The phylogenetic implications of these fossils are assessed through cladistic analyses, and comparisons with maximum likelihood ancestral states reconstructed on topologies derived from Bayesian cpDNA analysis of extant Pinus and Picea.
-
- Graduation date
- Fall 2011
-
- Type of Item
- Thesis
-
- Degree
- Master of Science
-
- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.