Sprecher
Beschreibung
The composition of palynofloras from 41 samples from the ?late Aptian– Cenomanian Wasia Formation in the Arabian Gulf, offshore Saudi Arabia, revealed diverse dinocysts, spores, and gymnosperm and angiosperm pollen.
Angiosperms are comprising up to 25% of the palynoflora and exhibit a great range of morphological types. This remarkable diversity is reflected by more than 50 identified taxa. The most frequent forms included monocolpate Transitoripollis cf. anulisulcatus, Echimonocolpites tersus, Pennipollis sp. A, polyporate Penetetrapites mollis and the questionably angiospermous Afropollis aff. jardinus. The triaperturate pollen grains are remarkably diverse, including Tricolpites cf. parvus, Rousea georgensis, ?Retitrescolpites sp. A, and Striatopollis sp. A. Rare forms included the tetracolpate Quadricolpites reticulatus, monocolpate Similipollis sp., Dictyozonia sp., trichotomosulcates Doyleipollenites sp., syntricolpate Trisectoris reticulatus, winteraceous pollen tetrads Qatanipollis valentini, triaperturate Rousea doylei, R. brenneri, and Phimopollenites augathallaensis. The assemblage includes newly described taxa.
Considering the broader geological context, it is intriguing to explore the role of sea-level fluctuations in driving angiosperm speciation. Boukhamsin et al. (2023) suggests that these fluctuations might have played a crucial role in facilitating both aquatic and terrestrial angiosperm diversification. It is plausible, therefore, to hypothesize that the observed moderate increase in diversity during the late early Albian phase could be influenced by the sea-level drop associated with KAl3 of Haq (2014).