Albian Stage

The Albian (113–101 Ma) is the sixth and last age of the Early Cretaceous, occurring after the Aptian, and before the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)

Geologic Age

  • 113.0–100.5 Ma

Eon / Era / Period / Epoch

What happened during this time?

  • Early to Mid-Albian (113–101 Ma): Angiosperms occur in higher middle latitudes and locally dominant (diversity equals that of ferns and others)

    • There are large angiosperm trees on the landscape during the Early Albian

    • Between 110-100 Ma, angiosperms were replacing conifers, and causing the extinction of several conifer groups (Condamine et al. 2020)

  • Archaeanthus is an early angiosperm described from the mid-Cretaceous (uppermost Albian to mid-Cenomanian) Dakota Formation of central Kansas, USA.

    • Archaeanthus linnenbergeri (Dilcher and Crane) is a multifollicular angiosperm fruit.

    • Perianth parts (Archaepetala beekeri Dilcher and Crane and Archaepetala obscura Dilcher and Crane)

    • Bud scales (Kalymmanthus walkeri Dilcher and Crane)

    • Leaves (Liriophyllum kansense Dilcher and Crane) on the basis of association evidence and structural agreement in the presence of distinctive resin bodies (Dilcher and Crane, 1984).

  • Late Albian (101 Ma): Angiosperms spanning the tropics to the poles

    • Inhabiting stream-margin and overbank (floodplain)

    • Nearly all major physiognomic foliage types found

    • Megaflora from below 60oN consist of broadleaf evergreens, with cold-sensitive life-forms

    • Arctic megafloras dominated by broadleaved deciduous forests