''Sapindopsis'' ("''Sapindus''-like") is an extinct form genus for leaves of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

Period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

, originally considered similar to soapberry. Associated reproductive structures now suggest it was more closely related to planes and sycamores of the family

Platanaceae Platanaceae, the "plane-tree family", is a family of flowering plants in the order Proteales. The family consists of only a single extant genus ''Platanus'', with eight known species. The plants are tall trees, native to temperate and subtropic ...

Description

In the form generic system of

paleobotany 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 ...

''Sapindopsis'' is used only for leaves, which are compound with three to six leaflets. Leaflets vary in distinctness or confluence with the midrib. The venation is pinnate, eucamptodromous to brochidodromus, with percurrent tertiary veins.

Distribution and species

''Sapindopsis'' was geographically widespread from Asia to North America. Species include: *†'' Sapindopsis magnifolia'' (Fontaine) Dilcher and Basson 1990 ( type), from the

Potomac Group The Potomac Group is a geologic group in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. An indeterminate tyrannosauroid and '' Priconodon crassus'', a nodosaurid, are known from indetermi ...

, Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of Virginia, USA *†'' Sapindopsis anhouryi'' Dilcher and Basson 1990, from the

Sannine Formation The Sannine Formation, also called the Sannine Limestone, is a Cretaceous geologic formation in Lebanon. Description It is primarily Cenomanian in age. The formation laterally varies from east to west; the western lowland "coastal" sequence i ...

, mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Namoura, Lebanon. *†'' Sapindopsis asiaticus'' Golovneva and Sun 2022, from the Krivorechenskaya Formation (upper

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

-lower

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded by t ...

) of Russia. *†'' Sapindopsis chinensis'' Golovneva and Sun 2022, from the Dalazi Formation of China and Alchan Formation of Russia (upper Albian) *†'' Sapindopsis orientalis'' Golovneva and Sun 2022, from the Frentsevka Formation of Russia. *†'' Sapindopsis powelliana'' (Lesquereux) Wang and Dilcher 2018, from the

Dakota Formation The Dakota is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary geologic unit name of Formation (stratigraphy), formation and Group (stratigraphy), group rank in Midwestern North America. The Dakota units are generally composed of sandstones, mudstones, clays, and ...

, mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Kansas, USA. '' Distefananthus hoisingtonensis'' (Huegele and Wang 2022) may represent the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of the same species. *†'' Sapindopsis retallackii'' Wang and Dilcher 2018, from the

, mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Kansas, USA *†'' Sapindopsis variabilis'' Fontaine 1889, from the Patapsco Formation, Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of Virginia, USA

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q59192208 Cretaceous plants Prehistoric angiosperm genera Platanaceae