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Contribution to the study of the structure of amber forest communities based on analysis of syninclusions in the Rovno amber (Late Eocene of Ukraine)

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Abstract

The composition of syninclusions was analyzed in three representative samples of the Late Eocene Rovno amber. Statistical analysis revealed a stable connection between three pairs of taxa in all three samples, viz., the midges Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae; the flies Dolichopodidae and aphids Germaraphis; and the mite Glaesacarus rhombeus and Sciara zone dipterans (Sciaroidea, Tipuloidea, etc.). The first pair is interpreted as representing the assemblage of aeroplankton insects; the second, the assemblage of dwellers of the trunks of amber trees; and the third pair, the assemblage of dead wood consumers. The results, although provisional, support the idea that the study of syninclusions is a useful instrument for understanding the structure of past communities.

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Correspondence to E. E. Perkovsky.

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Original Russian Text © E.E. Perkovsky, A.P. Rasnitsyn, A.P. Vlaskin, S.P. Rasnitsyn, 2012, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2012, No. 3, pp. 70–78.

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Perkovsky, E.E., Rasnitsyn, A.P., Vlaskin, A.P. et al. Contribution to the study of the structure of amber forest communities based on analysis of syninclusions in the Rovno amber (Late Eocene of Ukraine). Paleontol. J. 46, 293–301 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030112030136

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030112030136

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