Yacimientos Paleontológicos Excepcionales en la Península Ibérica: XXXIV Jornadas de Paleontología y IV Congreso Ibérico de Paleontología, 2018, ISBN 978-84-9138-066-5, págs. 279-287, 2018
Portuguese amber has received very little attention from the paleontological and geological point... more Portuguese amber has received very little attention from the paleontological and geological points of view. To our knowledge, only twelve amber outcrops or amber-bearing areas have been detected in Portugal. The first outcrops were cited in times as old as 1867 and 1910, and although some of them were considered Jurassic in age, most likely the amber came from Cretaceous deposits. The Portuguese outcrops are poor in amber and, thus far, only a dipteran (Nematocera) insect has been found as bioinclusion (Cascais amber); the area of Estoril-Cascais, near Lisbon, provides amber interesting from the paleoentomological standpoint. In contrast, prehistoric amber from Portugal, namely as diverse types of beads and pendants, has been researched in some detail during the last decades. The 25 archeological localities known occur from north to south, ranging in ages from the Neolithic through the Chalcolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Further research is required to prospect the known paleontological localities, and also to look for new ones, in order to obtain stratigraphically contextualized samples and to perform the first infrared and/or Raman spectroscopy analyses. This will allow comparing these with the infrared and/or Raman spectra of archeological pieces to shed light on the origin of the amber as a raw material during prehistoric times. The potential discovery of a paleontological locality yielding abundant bioinclusions would be of great interest, as it would allow taxonomic and paleoecological comparisons with the rich Cretaceous outcrops from the north and northeastern Iberian Peninsul
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Papers by David Peris
(15–20 Ma): Cenocephalus tenuis Peris and Solórzano
Kraemer sp. nov. and Tesserocerus simojovelensis Peris and
Solórzano Kraemer sp. nov. Cenocephalus, originally described
as living in Central and South America and then as
fossils from Early to Middle Miocene amber, is noted as morphologically
indistinguishable from Mitosoma, and originally
described as endemic from Madagascar. Thus, we consider
that a close taxonomic relationship exists, even if they are
not the same genus. New evidence of the species already described
in Platypodinae (Tesserocerini) from Mexican and
Dominican ambers (15–20 Ma) and the differences between
those species are discussed, complementing the original descriptions.
The paleobiogeography of Cenocephalus and
Mitosoma is analyzed, which strongly supports the hypothesis
of colonization from Afrotropical Madagascar to America prior
to Early to Middle Miocene (15–20 Ma) via sea currents.
Hymenaea was interpreted as the Mexican and Dominican
resin producers. Based on the analysis of fossil and current
distribution of such plants, our hypothesis considers that the
beetle dispersion occurred with Hymenaea, which was possibly
its host plant.
(15–20 Ma): Cenocephalus tenuis Peris and Solórzano
Kraemer sp. nov. and Tesserocerus simojovelensis Peris and
Solórzano Kraemer sp. nov. Cenocephalus, originally described
as living in Central and South America and then as
fossils from Early to Middle Miocene amber, is noted as morphologically
indistinguishable from Mitosoma, and originally
described as endemic from Madagascar. Thus, we consider
that a close taxonomic relationship exists, even if they are
not the same genus. New evidence of the species already described
in Platypodinae (Tesserocerini) from Mexican and
Dominican ambers (15–20 Ma) and the differences between
those species are discussed, complementing the original descriptions.
The paleobiogeography of Cenocephalus and
Mitosoma is analyzed, which strongly supports the hypothesis
of colonization from Afrotropical Madagascar to America prior
to Early to Middle Miocene (15–20 Ma) via sea currents.
Hymenaea was interpreted as the Mexican and Dominican
resin producers. Based on the analysis of fossil and current
distribution of such plants, our hypothesis considers that the
beetle dispersion occurred with Hymenaea, which was possibly
its host plant.