Ecological and palynological notes on Pelliciera rhizophorae

Pelliciera rhizophorae is now found almost exclusively along the Colombian Pacific Coast, but its pollen is found in the Oligo/Miocene of Nigeria, Mexico, and Northern South America, Differentiation between the pollen of Pelliciera rhizophorae and the genus Hura which often have been lumped together, may permit a finer paleoecological interpretation. Relatively high percentages of huroid pollen alone may point to deposition outside a mangrove belt and to a climate with a rather pronounced dry season. Pellicieroid pollen without huroid pollen but frequently associated with rhizophoroid pollen may indicate deposition near a pronounced mangrove belt and a humid climate without pronounced seasonal changes. Huroid pollen associated with pellicieroid and rhizophoroid pollen may point to transport of the former from areas with a relatively dry season into a depositional area in the neighbourhood of a mangrove belt.