HONEGGERIELLA COMPLEXA GEN. ET SP NOV., A HETEROMEROUS LICHEN FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND (BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
HONEGGERIELLA COMPLEXA GEN. ET SP NOV., A HETEROMEROUS LICHEN FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND (BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
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DOI：
10.3732/ajb.1200470
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发表时间：
2013-02-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Tomescu, Alexandru M. F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Matsunaga, Kelly K. S.;Stockey, Ruth A.;Tomescu, Alexandru M. F.
研究前提：即使在最恶劣的环境中，地衣也存在于所有陆地生态系统中。由于其生态多样性和普遍性，它们被认为是陆地环境早期殖民者的优秀候选者。尽管有这样的预测、良好的保存潜力以及现存的地衣真菌多样性，但地衣组合的化石记录仍然很少。明确的地衣化石很少见，部分原因是难以确定这两种共生体的存在以及描述它们的相互作用。这项研究描述了温哥华岛下白垩纪保存异常完好的异质地衣。方法：该化石存在于从不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华岛苹果湾地区收集的海洋碳酸盐结核中，并使用醋酸纤维素剥离技术进行光学显微镜和扫描电镜准备。主要结果：地衣，Honeggeriella Complexa gen。等nov.，由子囊菌真菌生物体和叶绿素光生物体形成，并表现出异质叶状体组织。这与以细胞内吸器为特征的真菌生物体-光生物体界面配对，以前在化石记录中没有记录。结论：Honeggeriella 为最丰富和特征最清楚的早白垩世植物群之一添加了地衣成分，并为稀疏的地衣化石记录提供了重要的补充。作为一种异质绿地衣，它弥补了先前记录的早泥盆世和始新世事件之间超过 3.5 亿年的差距。
Premise of the study: Colonists of even the most inhospitable environments, lichens are present in all terrestrial ecosystems. Because of their ecological versatility and ubiquity, they have been considered excellent candidates for early colonizers of terrestrial environments. Despite such predictions, good preservation potential, and the extant diversity of lichenized fungi, the fossil record of lichen associations is sparse. Unequivocal lichen fossils are rare due, in part, to difficulties in ascertaining the presence of both symbionts and in characterizing their interactions. This study describes an exceptionally well-preserved heteromerous lichen from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island.Methods: The fossil occurs in a marine carbonate concretion collected from the Apple Bay locality on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and was prepared for light microscopy and SEM using the cellulose acetate peel technique.Key results: The lichen, Honeggeriella complexa gen. et sp. nov., is formed by an ascomycete mycobiont and a chlorophyte photobiont, and exhibits heteromerous thallus organization. This is paired with a mycobiont-photobiont interface characterized by intracellular haustoria, previously not documented in the fossil record.Conclusions: Honeggeriella adds a lichen component to one of the richest and best characterized Early Cretaceous floras and provides a significant addition to the sparse fossil record of lichens. As a heteromerous chlorolichen, it bridges the >350 million-year gap between previously documented Early Devonian and Eocene occurrences.