Gene

Ecology

Biology

Sister group

Taxon

Extinction (optical mineralogy)

Archaeology

Biochemistry

Botany

Evolutionary biology

Paleontology

Geography

Cretaceous

Mosaic

Clade

Ancient history

Fossil Record

Phylogenetics

Biogeography

History

American Journal of Botany

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The floral history of early angiosperms is far from complete. The fossil discussed here has the potential to expand our knowledge of timing, reproductive biology, and paleobiogeography in early angiosperms. METHODS: Cutting‐edge methodologies in CT scanning in conjunction with tomography software have opened new possibilities for discovering details in amber‐preserved fossils that were inaccessible for meaningful study in the past. KEY RESULTS: The fossil is small and complex, cupulate, with numerous stamens and a suite of characters distributed in the modern families of Laurales. The most parsimonious placement of the fossil based on morphology is as a sister taxon of Atherospermataceae + Gomortega (Gomortegaceae). CONCLUSIONS: This fossil taxon, a Laurasian Lauralean from the mid‐Cretaceous, is an important example of fossil Laurales with implications for biogeography and timing in the radiation and extinction in this group.

A mosaic Lauralean flower from the Early Cretaceous of Myanmar