Fossil evidence of core monocots in the Early Cretaceous
Fossil evidence of core monocots in the Early Cretaceous
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DOI：
10.1038/s41477-019-0468-y
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发表时间：
2019-07-01
期刊：
影响因子：
18
通讯作者：
Bernardes-de-Oliveira, Mary E. C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coiffard, Clement;Kardjilov, Nikolay;Bernardes-de-Oliveira, Mary E. C.
被子植物的所有主要分支都有化石记录，可以追溯到1亿多年前（早白垩世），大部分与分子测年法一致。然而，与其他被子植物相比，早白垩世单子叶植物的记录非常少。它们的草本特性被用来解释这种稀有性，但植物学也可以解释。不幸的是，大多数早白垩世被子植物记录来自北方中纬度地区。克拉托高原卡尔克石灰岩提供了一个独特的窗口，以了解早白垩世的热带植被，并已取得单子叶植物化石。在这里，我们描述了一个完整的单子叶植物从根到生殖器官，是解剖保存。化石的良好保存允许评估单子叶植物的生殖，营养和解剖特征，导致这一化石作为冠单子叶植物的一个强大的识别。它出现在冈瓦纳北方，支持了热带单子叶植物早期辐射的可能性。
All the major clades of angiosperms have a fossil record that extends back to more than 100 million years ago (Early Cretaceous), mostly in agreement with molecular dating. However, the Early Cretaceous record of monocots is very poor compared to other angiosperms. Their herbaceous nature has been invoked to explain this rarity, but biogeography could also be an explanation. Unfortunately, most of the Early Cretaceous angiosperm record comes from northern mid-latitudes. The Crato plattenkalk limestone offers a unique window into the Early Cretaceous vegetation of the tropics and has already yielded monocot fossils. Here, we describe a whole monocotyledonous plant from root to reproductive organs that is anatomically preserved. The good preservation of the fossils allowed the evaluation of reproductive, vegetative and anatomical characteristics of monocots, leading to a robust identification of this fossil as a crown monocot. Its occurrence in Northern Gondwana supports the possibility of an early radiation of monocots in the tropics.