Sprecher
Beschreibung
The early Late Miocene hominid locality Hammerschmiede (OSM4, MN9, Bavaria, Germany) is well known for its diverse and important fossil vertebrate fauna, but the botanical record remains poorly understood. The unique carpoflora from a fine grained river channel fill (HAM 4, channel lag/ upper bars) has been collected and studied over the last years. The depositional setting reflects neither a typical limnic carpoflora nor a bedload carpodeposit sensu Gee (2005). The assemblage, with over 2000 finds, shows an overwhelming dominance of Vitaceae and only few aquatic and terrestrial elements.
A key initial question was to verify the fossil status of several exceptionally well preserved endocarps that are morphologically indistinguishable from modern counterparts. For these specimens, we combine SEM-EDX and organic petrography, quantifying elemental compositions (including carbon and nitrogen) and documenting maceral assemblages, reflectance and pyrite occurrence in polished blocks, in comparison with extant and independent fossil reference material. On this basis, the taxonomy of the seeds and fruits is reassessed, allowing at least ten genera to be securely documented from HAM 4 and substantially expanding the known carpological record of the site. Differences in preservation are then used to explore taphonomic pathways and possible transport mechanisms, including hydraulic sorting and biotic enrichment. In a final step, the combined taphonomic and taxonomic indicators are used to outline a first botanical palaeoecological interpretation of the HAM 4 floodplain system, focusing on likely source habitats and the broader placement of the assemblage within warm temperate Neogene floristic elements and complexes sensu Mai (1995).