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Evidence of pteridophyte–arthropod interactions in the fossil record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

A. C. Scott ,
W. G. Chaloner  and
S. Paterson
A. C. Scott
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Chelsea College, University of London, 552 Kings Road, London SW10 0UA, U.K.
W. G. Chaloner
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges, University of London, Virginia Water, Surrey, U.K.
S. Paterson
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Chelsea College, University of London, 552 Kings Road, London SW10 0UA, U.K.
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Synopsis

The past decade has seen the emergence of significant fossil evidence of a history of pterodophytearthropod interaction extending back to the Devonian period. Such fossils include plant tissue showing lesions, bites and borings with associated features implicating arthropods as causal agents. Gut contents of Carboniferous arthropods, which include lycopod xylem elements and spores, are a tangible demonstration of phytophagy. Pteridophyte spores in fossil droppings (coprolites) indicate the prevalence of arthropod spore-eating in the Palaeozoic. This may have had compensations for the source plant and evidently represented the start of the co–evolution which culminated in the elaborate adaptations shown by flowering plants and their insect pollination vectors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 86: The Biology of Pteridophytes , 1985 , pp. 133 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

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