Droserapites
Encyclopedia
Droserapites is a genus
of extinct
plant
s of somewhat uncertain droseracean
affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen
.
Droserapites pollen grains are united in tetrads
(groups of four). Individual grains are inaperturate. The exine is mixed with dense, superposed clavate and baculate processes, whereas the sexine is reticulate.
Pollen of D. clavatus has been found in the Miocene
Peliao Sandstone of Taiwan
. It generally matches that of extant Drosera in morphology. In his formal description of the genus, Tseng-Chieng Huang suggested that Droserapites may be related to Droseridites
and Quadrisperites.
The tetrads of D. clavatus are tetrahedral and 34–40 µm
in diameter. Individual grains are subspheroidal and measure 18–25 µm in width. They have a roughly circular amb that is abruptly acute at the distal pole. The exine is 0.5–1 µm thick, with 2–3 µm long clavae or bacula.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s of somewhat uncertain droseracean
Droseraceae
Droseraceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is also known under its common name, the sundew family.It consists of carnivorous plants: besides the sundews, the genus Drosera, it also contains the even more-famous Venus fly trap Dionaea muscipula...
affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
.
Droserapites pollen grains are united in tetrads
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
(groups of four). Individual grains are inaperturate. The exine is mixed with dense, superposed clavate and baculate processes, whereas the sexine is reticulate.
Pollen of D. clavatus has been found in the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
Peliao Sandstone of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. It generally matches that of extant Drosera in morphology. In his formal description of the genus, Tseng-Chieng Huang suggested that Droserapites may be related to Droseridites
Droseridites
Droseridites is a genus of extinct plants of possible droseracean or nepenthacean affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen...
and Quadrisperites.
The tetrads of D. clavatus are tetrahedral and 34–40 µm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
in diameter. Individual grains are subspheroidal and measure 18–25 µm in width. They have a roughly circular amb that is abruptly acute at the distal pole. The exine is 0.5–1 µm thick, with 2–3 µm long clavae or bacula.