Ginkgoites villardeseoanii sp. nov., a ginkgophyte with insect damage from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lefipán Formation (Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina)

• Published in: Cretaceous research 2022-05, Vol.133, p.105124, Article 105124
• Main Authors: Andruchow-Colombo, Ana, Gandolfo, María A., Cúneo, Néstor R., Escapa, Ignacio H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ginkgoales; Ginkgoites; Insect damage; Patagonia; Plant-insect interaction
• ISSN: 0195-6671; 1095-998X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105124

Today, the ginkgophytes are represented by the single species Ginkgo biloba, naturally distributed in China and cultivated worldwide. However, the ginkgophyte lineage shows an extensive fossil record going back to the Paleozoic of both hemispheres. In South America, its record began in the upper Paleozoic and reached the middle Eocene, and it includes both vegetative and reproductive remains. The Cretaceous macrofossil record of this group in South America is restricted to Lower Cretaceous deposits, where it is relatively abundant, whereas there is a gap in its Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleogene record. We present the new species Ginkgoites villardeseoanii collected from Maastrichtian (uppermost Cretaceous) deposits of the Lefipán Formation (Patagonia, Argentina). The studied material consists of three specimens preserved as adpressions of isolated, flabellate, and petiolate (Ginkgo-like) leaves, with few epidermal characters preserved. One of the studied specimens shows evidence of insect damage consistent with hole feeding, constituting the first Cretaceous record of interaction between ginkgophytes and insects in the Southern Hemisphere. We infer that this damage was produced when the leaf was still attached to the plant, as the specimen shows evidence of a physiological reaction of the plant in the form of a border of necrotic tissue around the wound. Ginkgoites leaves are common among different lineages within the Ginkgoales, having been associated to three families (Ginkgoaceae, Karkeniaceae, and Yimaiaceae). Therefore, G. villardeseoanii was assigned to an incertae sedis family. [Display omitted] •We describe leaf remains and erect the new species Ginkgoites villardeseoanii.•G. villardeseoanii would belong either to Karkeniaceae or Ginkgoaceae.•We describe the first ginkgophyte-insect interaction Cretaceous record worldwide.•The fossil record of insect damage on Ginkgophyta is scarce.•Insect-repellent properties could be a cause of the lineage success and longevity.