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Sharply increased insect herbivory during the Paleocene–Eocene
Thermal Maximum
Currano et al. 10.1073/pnas.0708646105.
Supporting Information
Files in this Data Supplement:
SI Table 4
SI Table 5
SI Methods
SI Dataset 1
Table 4. Additional site information
Site collection no
USNM 42395-42399
Location of principal quarry (N, W)
44.27980, 108.05080 *
USNM 42384
43.94508, 107.61870
USNM 41643
44.83843, 109.07274
USNM 42042
44.87568, 108.87242
USNM 42041
44.84884, 108.75471
*The post-PETM Wasatchian 2 flora is found in a laterally extensive carbonaceous shale that can be easily
traced. The lithology makes it difficult to collect 1,000 leaves from a single quarry. Therefore, fossils were
collected from five quarries spaced over 500 m, and the GPS coordinates given are those of the centrally
located quarry (NAD27 CONUS datum).
Table 5. LMA estimates using petiole width measurements and damage frequency on individual host plants
Site
Wa2
Wa2
PETM
PETM
PETM
PETM
PETM
PETM
Cf3
Cf3
Cf3
Cf3
Ti5
Ti5
Ti5
Ti5
Ti5
Ti4
Ti4
Species
No of leaves in
census
No of petiole
measurements
LMA
% leaves with
damage
SD, damage
95% PI, top
95% PI, bottom
Alnus sp.
178
5
72
104
50
33.1
3.53
Averrhoites affinis
816
4
133
200
88
34.0
1.66
Dicot sp. WW001
480
11
156
201
122
45.4
2.27
Dicot sp. WW002
20
3
104
167
65
85.0
7.98
Dicot sp. WW004
89
2
53
94
30
65.2
5.05
Dicot sp. WW005
65
2
75
134
42
93.8
2.98
Dicot sp. WW006
82
6
61
85
44
75.6
4.74
Dicot sp. WW007
154
8
85
113
63
52.6
4.02
Cercidiphyllum genetrix
139
6
66
92
47
20.64
3.43
Macginitiea gracilis
250
2
62
110
35
26.2
2.78
Platanus raynoldsi
133
2
78
138
44
26.0
3.80
Dicot sp. FU750
139
6
128
179
92
42.8
4.20
"Ampelopsis" acerifolia
139
2
90
160
51
23.7
3.61
Browniea serrata
81
2
61
108
34
48.1
5.55
Celtis aspera
20
2
90
160
51
10.0
6.71
Persites argutus
763
11
92
118
72
9.4
1.06
Zizyphoides flabella
206
6
102
143
73
9.7
2.06
Browniea serrata
181
2
75
133
42
48.1
3.71
Cercidiphyllum genetrix
531
3
93
149
58
28.2
1.95
PI, prediction interval, calculated as in Royer DL, Sack L, Wilf P, Lusk CH, Jordan GJ, Niinemets Ü, Wright IJ, Westoby M, Cariglino B, Coley PD, et al.
(2007) Paleobiology 33:574-589.
2
g/m
SI Dataset 1
Dataset 1. Complete dataset as a text file. Specimens with census numbers were collected, whereas those
listed as "census" were tallied on the outcrop. Laminar size as defined by Webb (1): lepto, leptophyll; nano,
nanophyll; micro, microphyll; noto, notophyll; meso, mesophyll; macro, macrophyll; mega, megaphyll.
The two Tiffanian floras were scored for the presence or absence of each damage type. For the other three
floras, the number of occurrences of each damage type (DT) was recorded. Hole-feeding damage types are
from columns DT1 to DT78 inclusive; margin-feeding from DT12 to DT81; skeletonization from DT16 to
DT79; surface-feeding from DT25 to DT82; galls from DT32 to DT125; mines from DT35 to DT104; and
piercing and sucking is DT46. Piercing and sucking was scored for presence/absence because of the
abundance of occurrences of piercing and sucking on individual leaves. USNM specimen 530967 is
SW0503 #315; 530968 is SW0503 #281; 530969 is SW0503 #249; 530970 is SW0503 #212; 530971 is
SW0503 #398; 530972 is SW0503 #103; 530973 is SW0503 #330; 530974 is SW0503 #562.
1. Webb LJ (1959) J Ecol 47:551-570.
SI Methods
Age Calibration for the Sites. The three Paleocene fossil localities were placed within the stratigraphic
framework of Secord et al. (1). The two Tiffanian localities were previously placed in this framework and
assigned ages (2). The Clarkforkian site is found at the same stratigraphic level as University of Michigan
vertebrate locality SC233. This locality is 1,455 m above the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, based on
Gingerich's stratigraphic section for the southeast side of Polecat Bench (3). Assuming a constant
sedimentation rate for Clarkforkian 3, the site was deposited 73.7% of the way through Clarkforkian 3,
yielding an age of 55.9 Ma in the Secord et al. stratigraphy. The PETM flora is from the middle of the
carbon isotope excursion, giving it an age of 55.75 (rounded to 55.8) Ma. The post-PETM flora has been
placed at the 112-m level in the Antelope Creek Section of Clyde et al. (4). This section has the local base
of the PETM (55.8 Ma) at -30 m and the local transition to C24n (53.808 Ma) at 455 m. The post-PETM
flora can then be assigned an age of 55.2 Ma by using a simple linear interpolation.
Paleotemperature Estimate for the Tiffanian. The majority of the mean annual paleotemperature
estimates in Table 1 and Fig. 1 come from published leaf margin analyses of Bighorn Basin floras (5, 6).
Significant warming between the Tiffanian and the late Clarkforkian has already been well documented in
southern Wyoming (7) and in deep sea cores (8). However, no temporally well constrained estimates have
been published for the Tiffanian in the Bighorn Basin because individual floras are species-poor.
Here, we obtained a paleotemperature estimate for the late Tiffanian by compiling a list of all published
plant species found in the Bighorn Basin during this interval (2, 9, 10) and then performing leaf margin
analysis by using equations 2 and 4 of ref.11. Because the fossil plants come from Tiffanian 4 through
Tiffanian 6, we place our paleotemperature estimate at the midpoint between the base of Tiffanian 4 and
the top of Tiffanian 6. The error bars on the time axis extend through this entire interval. Only leaf
morphotypes that have been assigned genus names were used in this study, to ensure continuity in plant
identifications among different authors. Toothed plant species include "Ampelopsis" acerifolia, Aesculus
hickeyi [this leaf type previously Carya antiquorum (12)], Beringiaphyllum cupanioides [previously
Viburnum cupanioides (13)], Browniea serrata [previously Eucommia serrata and Dicotylophyllum
anomalum (14)], Celtis aspera [previously Vibernum asperum (15)], "Celtis" peracuminata,
Cercidiphyllum genetrix, Chaetoptelea microphylla, Crataegus sp., Corylus insignis, Davidia antiqua
[previously Viburnum antiquum (16)], "Ficus" artocarpoides, Juglandiphyllites (formerly Pterocarya)
glabra, "Meliosma" flexuosa, and Platanus raynoldsi. The species with entire leaves are Macginitiea
gracilis [previously Platanus nobilis (17)], "Magnolia" borealis, "Magnolia" magnifica, "Nyssa" alata,
Persites argutus, and "Sassafras" thermale. "Fraxinus" eocenica and Zizyphoides flabella may be either
toothed or entire and are scored as 0.5, the intermediate value between toothed and entire species.
Similar results were obtained by using only the plant species from USNM localities 42041 and 42042,
although the error bars were larger because fewer species have been found at these sites. Therefore, we
opted to derive the estimate from published lists, even though their exact stratigraphic placement within the
Tiffanian is not as well established.
1. Secord R, Gingerich PD, Smith ME, Clyde WC, Wilf P, Singer BS (2006) Am J Sci 306:211-245.
2. Wilf P, Labandeira CC, Johnson KR, Ellis B (2006) Science 313:1112-1115.
3. Gingerich PD (2001) in Paleocene--Eocene Stratigraphy and Biotic Change in the Bighorn and Clarks
Fork Basins, Wyoming, ed Gingerich PD (Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI), pp 37-71.
4. Clyde WC, Hamzi W, Finarelli JA, Wing SL, Schankler D, Chew A (2007) Geol Soc Am Bull 119:848859.
5. Wing SL, Bao H, Koch PL (2000) in Warm Climates in Earth History, eds Huber BT, MacLeod KG,
Wing SL (Oxford Univ Press, Cambridge, UK), pp 197-237.
6. Wing SL, Lovelock EC, Currano ED (2006) in Climate and Biota of the Early Paleogene (Bilbao, Spain)
(Vol of Abstracts).
7. Wilf P (2000) Geol Soc Am Bull 112:292-307.
8. Zachos J, Pagani M, Sloan L, Thomas E, Billups K (2001) Science 292:686-693.
9. Hickey LJ (1980) in Early Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, ed
Gingerich PD (Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI), pp 33-49.
10. Wing SL, Alroy J, Hickey LJ (1995) Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 115:117-155.
11. Wilf P (1997) Paleobiology 23:373-390.
12. Manchester SR (2001) Int J Plant Sci 162:985-998.
13. Manchester SR, Crane PR, Golovneva LB (1999) Int J Plant Sci 160:188-207.
14. Manchester SR, Hickey LJ (2007) Int J Plant Sci 168:229-249.
15. Manchester SR, Akhmetiev MA, Kodrul TM (2002) Int J Plant Sci 163:725-736.
16. Manchester SR (2002) Syst Bot 27:368-382.
17. Manchester SR (1986) Bot Gaz 147:200-226.