Cretaceous amber of Ecuador unveils new insights into South America’s Gondwanan forests Artículo académico

Perfil
Identidad

Autor

Carlos A. Jaramillo
César Menor-Salván
Daniela Quiroz-Cabascango
David Peris
Enrique Peñalver
Fabiany A. Herrera
Galo Carrera
José Luís Román
Marcelo Carvalho
Maxime Santer
Mónica M. Solórzano-Kraemer
Mónica R. Carvalho
Patricio Santamarina
Patrick Blomenkemper
Rafael Francisco Castaño-Cardona
Xavier Delclòs

Resumen

Amber, a fossilised resin, became widespread during the Barremian (~ 122 Ma), marking the onset of the Cretaceous Resinous Interval (125–72 Ma). While common in the Northern Hemisphere, amber containing terrestrial arthropod inclusions had not previously been reported from the Mesozoic of South America. Here, we report the major occurrence of such amber from the early Albian (~ 112 Ma) Hollín Formation in Ecuadorian Napo region. Discovered at the Genoveva quarry, the amber is associated with coeval pollen and plant macrofossils deposited in fluvio-lacustrine environments. Geochemical analyses suggest araucariacean trees as the resin source, while palynological and macrofloral data indicate moderately diverse forests and the earliest known angiosperm leaf assemblage from north-western South America. Arthropods (hexapods and arachnids) representing at least six orders are well preserved. These findings provide direct evidence of a humid, resinous forest ecosystem and its arthropod fauna in equatorial Gondwana during the Cretaceous Resinous Interval. (Figure presented.)

autores

http://vivoweb.org/ontology/core#FacultyMember
Cadena Rueda, Edwin Alberto

fecha de publicación

2025-12-1

Área temática

Vida de ecosistemas terrestres

Edición

6

Identificador de objeto digital (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02625-2