Reconstruction of the Leaves of Two New Species of Pseudosmodingium (Anacardiaceae) from Oligocene Strata of Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

Leaves of two new plants are reconstructed from their isolated leaflets collected from the Oligocene Los Ahuehuetes locality near Tepexi de Rodríguez in Puebla, Mexico. The leaves of Pseudosmodingium mirandae Ramírez‐Garduño et al. are compound imparipinnate with leaflets of variable morphology. The leaflets of five leaf morphotypes vary from narrow elliptic to lanceolate or lorate; they are symmetrical to slightly asymmetrical, with acute to attenuate apex, acute to cuneate base, and entire to serrate margin. Venation is simple pinnate craspedodromous, with secondary veins slightly curved near their base; secondary veins may dichotomize near the margin to become tertiary veins, and intersecondary veins are small and oblique to the secondary veins. A small number of leaflets assigned to Pseudosmodingium terrazasiae Ramírez‐Garduño et al. are distinguished from P. mirandae by the leaflet shape, length:width ratio, base shape, and apex angle. Morphological comparison of the fossil leaves with leaves of extant species of Anacardiaceae based on numerical analyses indicates a close similarity between P. mirandae and Pseudosmodingium multifolium Rose, while P. terrazasiae is more similar to Pseudosmodingium perniciosum (HBK) Engl. The presence of fossil species with extant relatives that are endemic to Mexico, along with previous reports, indicates that by the Oligocene, some lineages were already in place, although today they form part of the more xeric communities in southern North America.