We talked about Oligocene seeds...

Last October, the members of OLIGOlife presented the preliminary results of seeds recovered from the As Pontes coal mine (Oligocene-early Miocene) in the XXXIX Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología (A Coruña, Spain). Until now, no type of seed had been precisely described from these deposits. It was through the washing and sieving process conducted by OLIGOlife members that their recovery was made possible from a very specific layer (F1), dated to the Rupelian. During these efforts, a large number of seeds in excellent condition were recovered, enabling the start of a meticulous study.

Figure 1. Dr. Alejandro Blanco presenting the poster at XXXIX SEP. Check here the abstract. Credits: B. Moncunill-Solé CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED.

The seeds have been analyzed both macroscopically and microscopically using scanning electron microscopy and computed tomography. The latter technique has revealed the internal state of seeds that never germinated. Their morphological characteristics suggest an association with the genus Stratiotes (family Hydrocharitaceae). These are aquatic plants currently distributed across northern and eastern Europe, extending to Kazakhstan. Their presence in the As Pontes strata aligns with palynological data and is consistent with the estimated environmental conditions.

Figure 2. Extant Stratiotes aloides plants. Credits: Public Domain.

We hope to complete the analysis of these materials soon and share all the resulting information and conclusions with the scientific community. In the meantime, you can read the summary submitted to the XXXIX SEP here.