Ancient Bumblebees: 24-Million-Year-Old Bee-Flower Relationship

Fossil bumblebees (Bombus messegus & B. palaeocrater) discovered with linden tree pollen reveal a 24-million-year-old bee-flower relationship. Pollen analysis confirms pollination link. Ancient insect pollination.

Geier and his colleagues recognized a new varieties of linden tree flower, Tilia magnasepala, and 2 new species of bumblebee, Bombus messegus and B. palaeocrater. These are the oldest well-known bumblebee fossils in Europe, Geier claims.

Fossil Discovery and Pollen Analysis

Geier and his colleagues removed plant pollen bits from numerous of the fossils and utilized a scanning electron microscope to peer deep right into the structure of the plant pollen. The pollen in the blossoms matched the pollen on both brand-new types of bees. Additionally, the had plant pollen on the undersides of their body, including their legs, mouthparts and abdomens, suggesting they collected the plant pollen when they arrived on the cupped-shaped linden flowers.

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Ancient pollen (facility) links a fossil bumblebee (Bombus messegus) (left) with neighboring fossil flowers (right). Pollen-coated were located in the same sediment as the pollen-holding blossoms, dating the connection to 24 million years earlier.

Evidence of Bee-Flower Communication

Today, linden trees still depend on bumblebees for pollination, making this the lengthiest known “direct evidence for a bee-flower communication that is still recurring in Europe,” says Friðgeir Grímsson, a paleobotanist also at the University of Vienna. Having the ability to trace a long-standing connection between a plant and its pollinator back 24 million years “is what makes this so special.”

“The plain visibility of pollen abided by the body of a fossil bee just validates the insect made flower visits,” claims Constanza Peña-Kairath, an expert in old insect pollination previously at the University of Barcelona who was not involved in the study. The new research offers “a crucial and remarkably well-preserved item of evidence” of a distinct partnership in between pollinator and the pollinated, she states.

Fossilization Process

“Insects fall into water bodies and drown constantly,” states Christian Geier, a paleobotanist at the College of Vienna. “When it comes to the fossilized bumblebees, they left being consumed by fish and wound up sinking down to all-time low of the lake.”

Lake Enspel Fossils Collection

Scientist collected the fossils from an ancient crater lake in Enspel, which lies about midway between Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. Numerous years back, plant life lined the lake and prospered along the shoreline. Sometimes, and flowers would come under the lake and get covered by debris that would later fossilize their remains.

Geier and his coworkers drawn out pollen bits from numerous of the fossils and made use of a scanning electron microscope to peer deep into the structure of the plant pollen. The pollen in the blossoms matched the plant pollen on both new types of. In addition, the bees had plant pollen on the undersides of their body, including their legs, mouthparts and abdominal areas, indicating they collected the pollen when they landed on the cupped-shaped linden flowers.

Periodically, blossoms and bees would drop right into the lake and get covered by debris that would later on fossilize their remains.