Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 66, núm. 1, 2014, p. 199-214 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2014v66n1a14

Filamentous micro-organisms, inorganic inclusions and pseudo-fossils in the Miocene amber from Totolapa (Chiapas, Mexico): taphonomy and systematics

Gérard Breton¹, María de Lourdes Serrano-Sánchez², Francisco J. Vega^3,*

¹ 6 rue des Réservoirs, F-76600 Le Havre, and UMR CNRS 6118 Géosciences, Université de Rennes I, France.
² Posgrado en Ciencias de La Tierra, Instituto de Geología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, México DF 04510, Mexico.
³ Instituto de Geología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, México DF 04510, Mexico.

^* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

The amber from Totolapa (Chiapas, Mexico) is thought to have been secreted by Hymenea sp. during Early to Middle Miocene time, and then reworked during Pleistocene ash flow events. Most of this amber is preserved within pyroclastic sediments. Peripheral layers of amber pieces from Totolapa yield a wealthy microflora including 1) one morpho-species of filamentous bacterium, 2) a sheathed bacterium Melanothrix mexicana gen. sp. nov., 3) five morpho-species of Actinobacteria (actinomycetes), Scopaeopsis verticillata gen. sp. nov., Thermomonosporopsis chiapasensis sp. nov., and three left in open nomenclature, and 4) diverse fungal mycelia. Melanothrix mexicana, Thermomonosporopsis chiapasensis, Actinobacteria gen. A sp. A and fungi were early colonizers of the fluid bark exudates of resin, and they grew either superficially or centripetally, as observed in modern resinicolous biota.

Keywords: Amber, prokaryote, fungi, new taxon, Miocene, Mexico.

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