Montrichardia aquatica Temporal range: Middle to Late Paleocene ~60–58 Ma |
|
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Araceae |
Genus: | Montrichardia |
Species: | M. aquatica |
Binomial name | |
Montrichardia aquatica Herrera et al. 2008 |
Montrichardia aquatica is an extinct species of monocot plant in the Araceae family.M. aquatica is related to the living species M. arborescens and M. linifera. The species is solely known from the Middle to Late Paleocene (about 60 to 58 Ma), fossil-rich Cerrejón Formation in La Guajira, northern Colombia.
The species is known only from the holotype specimen, number ING-0904, and the four paratypes ING-0808, ING-0903, ING-0905 and ING-0906. The leaves are currently residing in the collections housed by the Colombian Geological Institute in Bogotá. All five fossil specimens were collected from Cerrejón Formation exposures in the Cerrejón coal mine, located in the Rancheria Basin, Colombia. They were first studied by a group of researchers from Florida Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and led by Fabiany Herrera from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Herrera and associates published their 2008 type description in the American Journal of Botany. The specific epithet "aquatica", a derivation of the Latin "aquaticus", was chosen by the authors in reference to the species having lived near to, or in water.