Cardiospermum

Cardiospermum is a genus of approximately 14 species in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, which are native to the American, Indian, and African tropics. The genus name is derived from the Greek words καρδία, meaning "heart," and σπέρμα, meaning "seed." Common names of the members of this genus include balloon vine, love in a puff, heartseed, and heartseed vine. These plants are classified as invasive species in parts of the Southern United States and South Africa.

Cardiospermum

Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
SapindaceaePBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB, for Angiospermae

Time the record covers

At least 48 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 13 occurrencesEocene — about 9 of 13 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 2 of 13 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 1 of 13 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 13 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 13 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 2 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 1 occurrence46–44 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 1 occurrence34–32 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence48.07 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

13 occurrences of Cardiospermum on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

13 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

2 formations

Green River — 39.78°N, 107.87°WGreen River — 39.00°N, 110.10°WGreen River — 39.00°N, 110.00°WGreen River — 41.10°N, 109.30°WFlorissant — 38.92°N, 105.25°W

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The named rock units Cardiospermum has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cardiospermum and its relatives

Eocene

Where Cardiospermum and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

301 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 13 sites for Cardiospermum, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

5 references

Each of the 13 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Cardiospermum

Credit
Forest & Kim Starr
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Momordiocarpon cardiospermum · uf:paleobotany:09963

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSapindaceae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1753