''Nelumbo aureavallis'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the lotus family known from

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

age

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s found in western

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, USA. The species was described from two leaf specimens with reference to four others. The leaves were found at the

AMNH The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 i ...

fossil localities 14088, 14089, 14091a and 14099, all of which are in the Camels Butte member of the

Golden Valley Formation The Golden Valley Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Paleocene to Early Eocene age in the Williston Basin of North Dakota.Hickey, 1977 It is present in western North Dakota and was named for the city of Golden Valley by W.E. Benson and W.M ...

. The Camels Butte member outcrops at a number of sites in western

, and is designated as the type locality. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

specimen, number ''USNM 43231'', and paratype, number "USNM 43229, are both preserved in the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

collections of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. The pair of specimens were studied by

paleobotanist Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...

Leo J. Hickey Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

of the Yale University Geology Department. Dr Hickey published the 1977

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

for ''N. aureavallis'' in the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

memoir 150, ''Stratigraphy and Paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (Early Tertiary) of Western North Dakota''. In the type description the

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

for the specific name ''aureavallis'', "of Golden Valley" was not explicitly specified. Dr Hickey noted the extreme similarity between modern ''

Nelumbo ''Nelumbo'' is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers. Members are commonly called lotus, though the name is also applied to various other plants and plant groups, including the unrelated genus '' Lotus''. Members outwardly resemb ...

'' species leaves and those of ''N. aureavallis''. The leaves of ''Nelumbo aureavallis'' are up to in diameter with a smooth, slightly wavy margin. The

leaf stalk In botany, the petiole () is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem, and is able to twist the leaf to face the sun. This gives a characteristic foliage arrangement to the plant. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole in so ...

attached to the leaf in the center, from which between thirty-five and forty thick primary veins extend towards the margin. Each of the primary veins branches from one to three times. The secondary veins form a transverse pattern and this, combined with the large number of primaries, distinguish ''N. aureavallis'' from extinct

Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains nine genera with about 70 known species. Water li ...

genera and warrant its inclusion in ''Nelumbo''. Preserved with, but not attached to the holoype leaf, is a

flower bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be speci ...

which is very similar to modern lotus flowers. While not attached, the close proximity to the leaf and the noted similarity allowed for the tentative inclusion of the bud in ''N. aureavallis''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6990847 aureavallis Prehistoric angiosperms Plants described in 1977 Fossil taxa described in 1977 Eocene plants Extinct flora of North America