Fossil evidence of eupolypod ferns in the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar

Regalado, Ledis; Schmidt, Alexander R.; Krings, Michael; Bechteler, Julia; Schneider, Harald and Heinrichs, Jochen (2018): Fossil evidence of eupolypod ferns in the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar. In: Plant Systematics and Evolution, Vol. 304, No. 1: pp. 1-13

Abstract

Divergence time estimates based on DNA sequence variation of extant species suggest that eupolypod ferns were diverse already in the Cretaceous;however, fossil evidence to support this assumption remains exceedingly rare. Holttumopteris burmensis gen. et sp. nov., a fertile fern foliage fragment preserved in a piece of Albian-Cenomanian Burmese amber from Myanmar, is characterized by divided fertile leaves with catadromous, free lateral veins. Sporangia possess a vertical annulus interrupted by the sporangium stalk and contain monolete spores with a lophate perine. The sporangia occur clustered in discrete sori overarched by a laterally attached, reniform indusium. Reconstruction of ancestral character states suggests affinities of Holttumopteris to the Thelypteridaceae;however, several taxonomically relevant characters are not preserved. This discovery is nevertheless important because H. burmensis represents the first unequivocal fossil of a representative of the eupolypods from the middle Cretaceous.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Research Centers: GeoBio-Center
• Subjects: 500 Science > 500 Science; 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• ISSN: 0378-2697
• Language: English