[Taxacom] holotype for sale

[Karl Magnacca]

On 12 Sep 2007 at 8:59, Peter Stevens wrote:
> There is something funny about this amber - dating may be wrong, or  
> something.  A fairly "modern" grass was described from this amber,  
> and if its dating is correct, it completely changes dates for  
> angiosperm evolution...

The paper they cite for the 100mya date bases that on the pollen 
assemblage and fossils, not isotope dating.  Part of that is based on 
the similarity of the pollen profile to an Albian locality in China.  It 
also says that more work is needed, and it's probably worth noting that 
previous workers had thought it was Eocene.  The map they give also 
makes the area look pretty geologically complex, and if the amber 
authors got the sample through a third party it's possible it didn't 
come from that precise location, as the geology paper mentions several 
other amber deposits nearby.

Karl
=====================
Karl Magnacca
UC-Berkeley, ESPM Dept.
137 Mulford Hall #3114
Berkeley, CA 94720
http://nature.berkeley.edu/~magnacca/