Overview

• New Phytologist on September 22 reports matching Tilia pollen on fossil flowers and on bumblebee hairs from the 24‑million‑year‑old Enspel crater-lake sediments in Germany.
• Researchers name one new linden, Tilia magnasepala, and two new bumblebee species, Bombus (Kronobombus) messegus and Bombus (Timebombus) paleocrater.
• UV and blue-light imaging, fine-needle pollen extraction, and high‑resolution light and electron microscopy enabled the precise pollen identification and match.
• The team describes the first documented case worldwide of a fossil flower and its pollinating bees from the same deposits directly linked by pollen.
• Analyses indicate flower constancy in the bees during single flights, and the Bombus fossils rank among the oldest known, with only one older species from Colorado.