Biodiversity of ecosystems in an arid setting: The late Albian plant communities and associated biota from eastern Iberia

are common, the anecdotic presence of megaspores (two specimens) is noteworthy as it may reflect occasional floodings or high-water table allowing the development of wetlands. Insects and amber The Cretaceous amber from the Maestrazgo Basin has provided an extensive arthropod record as bioinclusions from the San Just, Arroyo de la Pascueta and La Hoya outcrops (Table 2). San Just represents one of the most outstanding Cretaceous amber-bearing outcrops worldwide with diverse and abundant bioinclusions. Its entomological content has been the subject of extensive research over the last decades (i.e. [108, 109] and references therein). The arthropod assemblages from San Just include arachnids (Pseudoscorpions, Acari and Araneae; Fig 4C), non-insect hexapods (Collembola) and up to eleven orders of insects (Archaeognatha, Orthoptera, Blattodea, Mantodea, Psocodea, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, Neu- roptera, Coleoptera [Fig 4D], Hymenoptera [Fig 4E and 4F] and Diptera), together with a high number of arthropod ichnofossils such as spiderwebs and coprolites. The site is also the type locality of 22 arthropod taxa to date, most of them insects (Table 2). Hymenoptera (mainly pla- tygastroids [Fig 4E]) and Diptera are the most abundant insects. Apart from arthropods, the amber from SJ also includes dinosaur feathers (Fig 4F), although the outcrop lacks faunal megaremains. Conversely, the bioinclusions from the Arroyo de la Pascueta and La Hoya

Fig 13. Detailed palynological chart for Cortes de Arenoso section (CA). Blue colour: marine palynomorphs; yellow colour: spores of ferns and allied; green colour: Gymnosperm pollen; red colour: Angiosperm pollen. 1. spike due to the abundance of Tucanopollis spp. 2. spike due to the abundance of “Liliacidites” minutus. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282178.g013 PLOS ONE Late Albian desert biota from Iberia PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282178 March 2, 2023 29 / 51