Phylogenetic and Palaeoecological studies on Cretaceous Monocotyledon angiosperms from NorthGondwana (Brazil and Egypt )

我们对单子叶植物进化的理解主要基于三个来源：现存分类群的形态解剖学加上分子数据，以及化石记录。单子叶植物的花和营养部分具有许多共同的特征，因此在植物学研究的早期，单子叶植物被认为是一个自然单位。最近，单子叶植物不同科之间的关系也已经基于分子数据得到解决。然而，两个主要问题仍然悬而未决。首先，什么时候发生了重大分歧，其次，在单子叶植物的历史上，在哪里和为什么会有重大的辐射事件对他们的进化产生了影响。后一个问题大多可以在研究化石材料和收集（古）生态生理学数据中解决。新的化石材料，从北冈瓦纳的白垩纪时代将被用来更好地确定一些分歧之间较大的单子叶植物分支。这种白垩纪材料将为理解可能由全球变化和对各种栖息地的生态适应引发的辐射事件提供见解。

Our understanding of the evolution of monocots is based mainly on three sources: Morphoanatomy plus molecular data of extant taxa, and the fossil record. Flowers and vegetative parts of monocots share many characters so that early in the history of botanical research the group has been recognized as a natural unit. Recently, the relationship among the various families of monocots has also been solved based on molecular data. However, two major questions are still open. Firstly, when did major divergences in the group occur and secondly, where and why may have major radiation events in the history of monocots had an effect on their evolution at large. The latter questions can be mostly addressed in studying fossil material and the collection of (palaeo)ecophysiological data. New fossil material from North Gondwana of Cretaceous age will be used in order to better date some of the divergences among larger clades of monocots. This Cretaceous material will provide insights in understanding radiation events that may have been triggered by global changes and ecological adaptations to various habitats.