Burmese amber fossils bridge the gap in the Cretaceous record of polypod ferns

Schneider, Harald; Schmidt, Alexander R. and Heinrichs, Jochen (2016): Burmese amber fossils bridge the gap in the Cretaceous record of polypod ferns. In: Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics, Vol. 18: pp. 70-78

Abstract

Cretaceous fossils of derived leptosporangiate ferns (Polypodiales) are exceedingly rare yet they are needed to confirm the hypothesis of a Cretaceous diversification of polypod ferns as predicted by DNA based divergence time estimates. Here we show that diverse polypod ferns existed in the mid-Cretaceous woodlands of Myanmar. We describe isolated sporangia with a vertical, broken annulus ring containing a differentiated stomium as well as distinguished pinnae fragments. Krameropteris resinatus gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a pinnae-fragment with free branched veins, exindusiate sori and polypod sporangia with trilete spores, and assigned to the early diverging polypod fern lineage Dennstaedtiaceae. Integration of the new fossil evidence in a phylogenetic framework provides support to the hypothesis of a Cretaceous diversification of polypod ferns. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Biology > Department Biology I
• Subjects: 500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
• ISSN: 1433-8319
• Language: English