Albian Stage

What happened during this time?

• Early to Mid-Albian (113–101 Ma): Angiosperms occur in higher middle latitudes and locally dominant (diversity equals that of ferns and others) 

  • There are large angiosperm trees on the landscape during the Early Albian

  • Between 110-100 Ma, angiosperms were replacing conifers, and causing the extinction of several conifer groups (Condamine et al. 2020)

• Archaeanthus is an early angiosperm described from the mid-Cretaceous (uppermost Albian to mid-Cenomanian) Dakota Formation of central Kansas, USA. 

  • Archaeanthus linnenbergeri (Dilcher and Crane) is a multifollicular angiosperm fruit.

  • Perianth parts (Archaepetala beekeri Dilcher and Crane and Archaepetala obscura Dilcher and Crane)

  • Bud scales (Kalymmanthus walkeri Dilcher and Crane)

  • Leaves (Liriophyllum kansense Dilcher and Crane) on the basis of association evidence and structural agreement in the presence of distinctive resin bodies (Dilcher and Crane, 1984).

• Late Albian (101 Ma): Angiosperms spanning the tropics to the poles 

  • Inhabiting stream-margin and overbank (floodplain) 

  • Nearly all major physiognomic foliage types found 

  • Megaflora from below 60oN consist of broadleaf evergreens, with cold-sensitive life-forms 

  • Arctic megafloras dominated by broadleaved deciduous forests