Floral Structure and Systematics of Mid-Cretaceous Angiosperms

过去几年来，古植物学活动的增加开始产生新的数据和新的见解，这些数据和见解与1亿年前白垩纪时期开花植物的起源和早期多样化有关。古植物学家以前使用的数据库几乎完全集中在树叶残骸上。来自花粉化石、花和木结构化石的新证据，以及对叶子解剖结构的新解释，极大地扩展了数据库。芝加哥菲尔德博物馆的彼得·克兰博士将通过收集北美东部波托马克群丰富的白垩纪沉积物中的植物遗骸，继续扩大数据来源。对保存完好的花材料进行详细的描述性研究，将使我们能够认识到生活在被子植物历史早期的主要分类类群。对有花粉的花的研究将使早期被子植物广泛分布的孢粉记录与其他植物器官的化石记录相结合。关于花结构的信息将为解释早花植物的授粉和其他生物学方面提供更好的基础。克兰博士的研究在发展关于早期被子植物主要类群之间进化关系的确凿假设方面具有重要意义。

Increased paleobotanical activity of the last several years is beginning to yield new data and new insights bearing on the origin and early diversification of flowering plants during the Cretaceous Period, 100 million years ago. The previous database used by paleobotanists focused almost entirely upon leaf remains. New evidence from fossil pollen and fossilized floral and wood structures, and new interpretations of leaf anatomy, have greatly expanded the database. Dr. Peter Crane of the Field Museum, Chicago, will continue this expansion of the sources of data, by collecting floral remains from rich Cretaceous deposits of the Potomac Group of eastern North America. Detailed descriptive examination of well-preserved floral material will permit recognition of the major taxonomic groups living at this early time in angiosperm history. Studies of flowers with pollen in place will permit integration of the extensive dispersed palynological record of early angiosperms with the fossil record of other plant organs. Information on floral structure will provide an improved basis for interpreting the pollination and other biological aspects of the life of early flowering plants. Dr. Crane's studies are important in developing corroborated hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships between major groups of early angiosperms.