Miocene flowers preserved in amber are providing scientists with a remarkable glimpse into a tropical rainforest that flourished around 15 million years ago. The tiny flowers come from the famous Zhangpu flora of Fujian Province in south-east China. Researchers from China and Europe examined two exceptionally well-preserved fossil flowers. Their study demonstrates that climbing plants, or lianas, were already important components of tropical forests during the Middle Miocene.

The flowers belong to the genus Ayenia, within the mallow family (Malvaceae). Scientists have named one specimen Ayenia zhangpuensis, a new fossil species. They provisionally assigned the second flower to Ayenia too.

Miocene Flowers Preserved in Amber

Using light microscopy and X-ray tomography, researchers examined delicate structures within the flowers. Such features rarely survive fossilisation. Remarkably, the ancient flowers closely resemble those of living Ayenia species. Therefore, the basic floral structure of this plant lineage appears to have changed little over millions of years.

Co-author of the study, Eva-Maria Sadowski (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin) explained:

“The fossils not only show that this group of plants existed in south-east China 15 million years ago. They also link a Miocene plant lineage to its living relatives today.”

A computer-generated image of a Miocene climbing plant flower (Ayenia) preserved in amber. Picture credit: Renata Xieting.

Picture credit: Renata Xieting

Reconstructing a Miocene Rainforest

The Zhangpu flora provides an extraordinary window into a Middle Miocene tropical ecosystem. At the time, global temperatures were relatively warm, and a species-rich rainforest covered the region. However, evidence for climbing plants can be difficult to find. Their delicate structures often decay before fossilisation can occur. Consequently, scientists may underestimate their importance in ancient forests.

These exquisite amber flowers help fill that gap. Furthermore, they demonstrate how amber can preserve surprisingly fragile evidence.

Co-author Gongle Shi (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, China) added:

“The exceptionally good state of preservation of the flowers allows us to identify features that are rarely preserved in fossil plants. The similarity to modern Ayenia species shows that the basic floral structure of this evolutionary lineage has remained remarkably stable since at least the Middle Miocene.”

Fifteen million years after these tiny flowers bloomed, they are helping scientists reconstruct both the evolution of flowering plants and the structure of an ancient tropical rainforest.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “Ayenia zhangpuensis sp. nov. (Malvaceae) from the Middle Miocene Zhangpu amber flora” by Xieting Wu, Simon Beurel, Julien B. Bachelier, Maria von Balthazar, Jörg U. Hammel, Eva-Maria Sadowski and Gongle Shi published in the Annals of Botany.

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