fossils as roots

[Denis Brothers]

The question is not whether fossils can provide information on which
character states were present at particular times, but as I understood
it the original question was whether a fossil could be used to provide
rooting information, in other words be assumed to have the relatively
plesiomorphic states for a modern group. That assumption is not valid
since fossils (like any other species) show a mixture of plesiomorphic
and apomorphic states. This was shown convincingly recently when the
first fossil Scolebythidae (a rare group of wasps found now only in
the southern hemisphere) were described from Lebanese, Baltic and
Dominican amber - all three fossil species (in two genera) have a more
reduced wing venation than all described modern species and thus are
alsmost certainly more apomorphic in this respect.

Professor Denis J. Brothers
School of Botany and Zoology
University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg)
Private Bag X01              Telephone: (+27) (0)331-260 5106
Scottsville                        Fax: (+27) (0)331-260 5105
3209 SOUTH AFRICA     e-mail: brothers at zoology.unp.ac.za