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Science 5 August 1994:
Vol. 265. no. 5173, pp. 768 - 771
DOI: 10.1126/science.265.5173.768
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Articles

The Molecular Fossil Record of Oleanane and Its Relation to Angiosperms

J. Michael Moldowan 1, Jeremy Dahl 2, Bradley J. Huizinga 2, Frederick J. Fago 2, Leo J. Hickey 3, Torren M. Peakman 4, and David Winship Taylor 5

1 Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA.
2 Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, Post Office Box 1627, Richmond, CA 94802-0627, USA.
3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, Post Office Box 208109, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA.
4 School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, England BS8 1TS.
5 Department of Biology, Indiana University, S.E., 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN 47150, USA

Oleanane has been reported in Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary source rocks and their related oils and has been suggested as a marker for flowering plants. Correspondence of oleanane concentrations relative to the ubiquitous microbial marker 17agr-hopane with angiosperm diversification (Neocomian to Miocene) suggests that oleanane concentrations in migrated petroleum can be used to identify the maximum age of unknown or unavailable source rock. Rare occurrences of pre-Cretaceous oleanane suggest either that a separate lineage leads to the angiosperms well before the Early Cretaceous or that other plant groups have the rarely expressed ability to synthesize oleanane precursors.

Submitted on February 22, 1994
Accepted on May 31, 1994


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