ArticleBMC biology2026
Revisiting early angiosperm pollination: a reassessment of Angimordella beetle and co-occurring thrips from mid-Cretaceous amber.
Article in BMC biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
backgroundThe Cretaceous rise of angiosperms profoundly reshaped terrestrial ecosystems, yet direct fossil evidence of early insect-angiosperm interactions remains scarce. Here, we re-examine a key mid-Cretaceous amber inclusion from Kachin, Myanmar, previously reported to preserve a pollen-bearing beetle (Angimordella burmitina) in close association with eudicot pollen.
resultsOur reassessment supports the recent transfer of Angimordella from Mordellinae (crown-group Mordellidae) to Apotomourinae (stem-group Mordellidae), based on traits such as a short pygidium and the absence of a subapical metatibial ridge. This revised placement challenges earlier interpretations of Angimordella as a specialized angiosperm pollinator and instead suggests a more generalized or transitional ecological role. We also document a co-preserved thrips in direct contact with the pollen grains, representing the first fossil record of a thrips associated with angiosperm pollen.
conclusionsThis fossil assemblage sheds light on the ecological complexity of mid-Cretaceous pollination systems, offering new insights into the incremental development of structured angiosperm-insect pollination networks.
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