An illustrated key for the identification of pollen from Pantepui and the gran sabana (Eastern Venezuelan Guayana)

Abstract

This work consists of a key, descriptions and illustrations, to identify the most significant angiosperm pollen types (85 genera/ species, belonging to 36 families), from a paleoecological point of view, of the Gran Sabana and the ‘tepui’ (table mountains) summits from eastern Venezuelan Guayana. The pollen key and plates contain the most frequent and abundant pollen types found so far by the author in the Holocene sediments, as well as the significant medium and minor elements. This is enough to carry out a standard, successful palynological analysis in the area with a small percentage of unknown taxa, and can be considered a first step to be enhanced with future studies, especially from the ‘tepui ‘ summits of the western Venezuelan Guayana.