The First Record of the Rust Fungus (Pucciniales) Spores from Middle Eocene Sakhalinian Amber

Fungus spores resembling teliospores of the genus Nyssopsora (Pucciniales) were found in a sample of Sakhalinian amber. Morphological features of the spores in the examined amber sample in general correspond to description of teliospores of the extant species Nyssopsora trevesiae parasitizing host plants of the Araliaceae, Trevesia sundaica in Java and Sumatra and Brassaiopsis ciliata in Southern China. It can be assumed that the plant on which those teliospores formed most likely belongs to the Trevesia – Brassaiopsis group. Extant species of these genera are characteristic of the undergrowth in humid forests from the Himalayas to Indonesia, which supports paleofaunistic data on rather warm and humid climate of Sakhalinian amber forest.