Abstract
A new genus is recognized based on winged fruits with a single species shared between the Miocene of southwestern Honshu, Japan, and the Miocene of Oregon and Idaho, USA. Calyces of Ozakia emryi gen. et sp. n. were formerly attributed to Heptacodium (Caprifoliaceae) and Amelanchier (Rosaceae); however, newly recovered specimens reveal additional characters that contradict these assignments. The pedicellate fruits are obovate, tapering basally and truncate apically, with about 10 longitudinal ribs, a prominent epigynous synsepalous calyx of five lobes, each with a midvein and a pair of weaker, ascending intramarginal primary veins. The single style has a capitate stigma. Ozakia is considered to represent an extinct eudicot genus, the familial affinities of which remain uncertain. The eastern Asian–western North American disjunction of Ozakia occurrences suggests that this plant traversed the Beringia land bridge during or prior to the Middle Miocene. Relatively few extinct angiosperm genera are known as late as the Miocene.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Robert Rosé and Greg Retallack for contributing important specimens and data concerning the collections made from Moose Mountain, Howard and Darlene Emry for specimens from Sucker Creek, William C. Rember for the specimen from Emerald Creek, Allen Marquette for the specimen from Haynes Creek, and Diane Erwin for providing access to specimens at the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Hongshan Wang provided assistance with specimens cited from Florida Museum of Natural History. Walter S. Judd provided helpful advice concerning possible botanical affinities and Terry Lott assisted with the investigation of extant taxa for comparison. Patrick F. Fields and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments for improvement of the original manuscript.
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Manchester, S.R., Uemura, K. Ozakia, a new genus of winged fruit shared between the Miocene of Japan and western North America. J Plant Res 127, 187–192 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0602-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0602-2