Paired Flowers of Core Eudicots Discovered from Mid-Cretaceous Myanmar Amber

A pair of connected flowers preserved in a mid-Cretaceous (early Cenomanian) Myanmar amber is described and named Antiquigemina pilosa Wang and Li gen. et sp. nov. Antiquigemina pilosa has bisexual flowers with a calyx of at least 3 sepals, a corolla of 5 petals, a whorl of at least 4 stamens and a tricarpellate pistil with a semi-inferior ovary. The differences in style divergence and calyx presence between paired flowers indicate different developmental stages. Considering that differentiated calyx and corolla and pentamery of corolla are features frequently observed in core eudicots, we propose treating Antiquigemina pilosa, which has a pentamerous perianth and differentiated sepals and petals, as an earlier representative of core eudicots. Antiquigemina pilosa provides first-hand evidence for the early diversification of core eudicots.