Berberis auriolensis DENK et SAMI, 2022

Denk, Thomas, Sami, Marco, Teodoridis, Vasilis & Martinetto, Edoardo, 2022, The Late Early Pleistocene Flora Of Oriolo, Faenza (Italy): Assembly Of The Modern Forest Biome, Fossil Imprint 78 (1), pp. 217-262 : 223

Berberis auriolensis DENK et SAMI sp. nov.

Text-fig. 3a–e

2001 Berberis sp. ; Martinetto and Sami, p. 20, text-fig. 12.

M a t e r i a l. Oriolo MSF 644, 784, 788, 789, 790-1, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795?; Santa Lucia delle Spianate MSF n.n., Tebano MSF n.n.

H o l o t y p e. Here designated MSF 644 ; paratypes

MSF 784, 788, 789, 790-1, 791, 792, 793, 794.

P l a n t F o s s i l N a m e s R e g i s t r y N u m b e r.

PFN002946.

D i a g n o s i s. Leaf, petiolate, lamina obovate or elliptical, micro to notophyll, base long cuneate, apex rounded, secondary venation brochidodromous, three distinct loops and secondary loops, margin subentire or dentate.

E t y m o l o g y. The species name derives from the village Oriolo, the medieval name of which was Auriolus.

T y p e l o c a l i t y. Oriolo, Salita di Oriolo quarry, Italy. T y p e s t r a t u m a n d a g e. “Sabbie gialle” cycle I, latest Calabrian.

D e s c r i p t i o n. Leaf, petiolate, petiole 3–5 mm, lamina obovate or elliptical, 46–66 mm long, 27–43 mm wide, base acute, cuneate, apex rounded or bluntly acute, secondary venation distinctly brochidodromous, 3 main loops followed by secondary loops towards lamina margin, small veins entering teeth or forming marginal loops, margin appearing bent downward in some specimens and hence teeth obscured, ca. 5 teeth per 10 mm margin, teeth with long basal and short apical side.

R e m a r k s. The leaves from Oriolo superficially resemble the European extant species B. vulgaris L., 1753. However, in the latter, the lobing of the secondary veins is steeper and the brochidodromous venation is generally less conspicuous. Dentition is variable in B. vulgaris , and the condition as found in the leaves from Oriolo is also met in living plants. In terms of leaf size, shape, and secondary venation, the northeastern Asian B. amurensis RUPR., 1857 , is very similar to the fossil leaves ( Text-fig. 3f ), whereas Berberis koreana PALIB., 1899 , from Korea, and B. canadensis MILL., 1768 , from North America are more similar in features of the leaf margin ( Text-fig. 3g, h ). These extant species belong to a modern clade comprising European, Asian and North American species (clade 5 of Adhikari et al. 2015). Remarkably, this clade also contains several narrow endemic relic species in western Eurasia (e.g., B. aetnensis C.PRESL, 1826 , B. cretica L., 1753, B. maderensis LOWE, 1856 ). Givulescu and Olos (1973) described Berberis goinai GIVUL. et OLOS, 1973 from Late Miocene strata of Romania (Chiuzbaia). This fossil species is based on a single leaf that is similar to some specimens from Oriolo (obvate leaf, entire margin in basal part of the lamina, few teeth in apical part). However, as in B. vulgaris , the loops formed by the secondary veins are steeper and do not reach close to the margin, as they do in the specimens from Oriolo. Consequently, the fossil taxon from Oriolo is here described as a new species.

Figures

Text-fig. 3. a–e: Berberis auriolensis sp. nov. a: Oriolo MSF 644, Holotype. b: Oriolo MSF 794, asterisks indicate position of teeth. c: Oriolo MSF 784. d: Oriolo MSF 789. e: Oriolo MSF 790. f–h: Modern leaves of Berberis. f: Berberis amurensis var. japonica modern leaf (NMNS Cleared Leaf Database specimen T 0454). g: Berberis koreana modern leaf (NMNS Cleared Leaf Database specimen T 1646). h: Berberis canadensis modern leaf (NMNS Cleared Leaf Database specimen T 1670). i: Epimedium cf. praeaspera Oriolo MSF 778, asterisk indicates position of tooth. j: Clematis aff. vitalba Oriolo MSF 630. Scale bars 10 mm (a–j).