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Siegert C, Gandolfo MA, Wilf P. Early Eocene infructescences from Argentine Patagonia expand the biogeography of Malvoideae. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2024:e16384. [PMID: 39095998 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
PREMISE Fossil infructescences and isolated fruits with characters of Malvoideae, a subfamily of Malvaceae (mallow family), were collected from early Eocene sediments in Chubut, Argentina. The main goals of this research are to describe and place these fossils systematically, and to explore their biogeographical implications. METHODS Fossils were collected at the Laguna del Hunco site, Huitrera Formation, Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. They were prepared, photographed, and compared with extant and fossil infructescences and fruits of various families using herbarium material and literature. RESULTS The infructescences are panicles with alternate arrangement of fruits. They bear the fruits on short pedicels that are subtended by a bract; the fruits display an infracarpelar disk and split to the base into five ovate sections interpreted as mericarps. Each mericarp is characterized by an acute apex and the presence of a longitudinal ridge. The isolated fruits show the same features as those on the infructescences. The fossils share unique features with members of the cosmopolitan family Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae. CONCLUSIONS The fossils have a unique combination of characters that does not conform to any previously described genus, justifying the erection of a new genus and species, Uiher karuen. This new taxon constitutes the first known Malvoideae reproductive fossils of the Southern Hemisphere, expanding the distribution of Malvoideae during the early Eocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Siegert
- L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14850, New York, USA
| | - Maria A Gandolfo
- L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14850, New York, USA
- Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, 9100, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802, Pennsylvania, USA
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Lian L, Peng HW, Erst AS, Ortiz RDC, Jabbour F, Chen ZD, Wang W. Bayesian tip-dated phylogeny and biogeography of Cissampelideae (Menispermaceae): Mitigating the effects of homoplastic morphological characters. Cladistics 2024; 40:391-410. [PMID: 38469932 DOI: 10.1111/cla.12573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The integration of morphological and molecular data is essential to understand the affinities of fossil taxa and spatio-temporal evolutionary processes of organisms. However, homoplastic morphological characters can mislead the placement of fossil taxa and impact downstream analyses. Here, we provide an example of how to mitigate effectively the effect of morphological homoplasy on the placement of fossil taxa and biogeographic inferences of Cissampelideae. We assembled three data types, morphological data only, morphological data with a molecular scaffold and combined morphological and molecular data. By removing high-level homoplastic morphological data or reweighting the morphological characters, we conducted 15 parsimony, 12 undated Bayesian and four dated Bayesian analyses. Our results show that the 14 selected Cissampelideae fossil taxa are placed poorly when based only on morphological data, but the addition of molecular scaffold and combination of morphological and molecular data greatly improve the resolution of fossil nodes. We raise the monotypic Stephania subg. Botryodiscia to generic status and discover that three fossils previously assigned to Stephania should be members of Diploclisia. The Bayesian tip-dated tree recovered by removing homoplastic morphological characters with a Rescaled Consistency Index <0.25 has the highest stratigraphic fit and consequently generates more reasonable biogeographic reconstruction for Cissampelideae. Cissampelideae began to diversify in Asia in the latest Cretaceous and subsequently dispersed to South America around the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary. Two dispersal events from Asia to Africa occurred in the Early Eocene and the Late Eocene-Late Oligocene, respectively. These findings provide guidelines and practical methods for mitigating the effects of homoplastic morphological characters on fossil placements and Bayesian tip-dating, as well as insights into the past tropical floristic exchanges among different continents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lian Lian
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Prominent Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
| | - Huan-Wen Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Prominent Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Andrey S Erst
- Central Siberian Botanical Garden, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Zolotodolinskaya str. 101, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
| | - Rosa Del C Ortiz
- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd, St Louis, Missouri, 63110, USA
| | - Florian Jabbour
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université des Antilles, EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier, CP39, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Zhi-Duan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Prominent Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Prominent Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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3
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Pokorny L, Pellicer J, Woudstra Y, Christenhusz MJM, Garnatje T, Palazzesi L, Johnson MG, Maurin O, Françoso E, Roy S, Leitch IJ, Forest F, Baker WJ, Hidalgo O. Genomic incongruence accompanies the evolution of flower symmetry in Eudicots: a case study in the poppy family (Papaveraceae, Ranunculales). FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 15:1340056. [PMID: 38947944 PMCID: PMC11212465 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1340056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
Reconstructing evolutionary trajectories and transitions that have shaped floral diversity relies heavily on the phylogenetic framework on which traits are modelled. In this study, we focus on the angiosperm order Ranunculales, sister to all other eudicots, to unravel higher-level relationships, especially those tied to evolutionary transitions in flower symmetry within the family Papaveraceae. This family presents an astonishing array of floral diversity, with actinomorphic, disymmetric (two perpendicular symmetry axes), and zygomorphic flowers. We generated nuclear and plastid datasets using the Angiosperms353 universal probe set for target capture sequencing (of 353 single-copy nuclear ortholog genes), together with publicly available transcriptome and plastome data mined from open-access online repositories. We relied on the fossil record of the order Ranunculales to date our phylogenies and to establish a timeline of events. Our phylogenomic workflow shows that nuclear-plastid incongruence accompanies topological uncertainties in Ranunculales. A cocktail of incomplete lineage sorting, post-hybridization introgression, and extinction following rapid speciation most likely explain the observed knots in the topology. These knots coincide with major floral symmetry transitions and thus obscure the order of evolutionary events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Pokorny
- Real Jardín Botánico (RJB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
| | - Jaume Pellicer
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
- Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Yannick Woudstra
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maarten J. M. Christenhusz
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
- Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Teresa Garnatje
- Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona, Spain
- Jardí Botànic Marimurtra, Fundació Carl Faust, Blanes, Spain
| | - Luis Palazzesi
- División Paleobotánica, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Matthew G. Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
| | | | | | - Shyamali Roy
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
| | | | - Félix Forest
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
| | | | - Oriane Hidalgo
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
- Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona, Spain
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4
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Naware D, Benson R. Patterns of variation in fleshy diaspore size and abundance from Late Triassic-Oligocene. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:430-457. [PMID: 38081480 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is a common attribute of many living plants, and variation in the size and abundance of fleshy diaspores is influenced by regional climate and by the nature of vertebrate seed dispersers among present-day floras. However, potential drivers of large-scale variation in the abundance and size distributions of fleshy diaspores through geological time, and the importance of geographic variation, are incompletely known. This knowledge gap is important because fleshy diaspores are a key mechanism of energy transfer from photosynthesis to animals and may in part explain the diversification of major groups within birds and mammals. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain variation in the abundance and size distribution of fleshy diaspores through time, including plant-frugivore co-evolution, angiosperm diversification, and changes in vegetational structure and climate. We present a new data set of more than 800 georeferenced fossil diaspore occurrences spanning the Triassic-Oligocene, across low to mid- to high palaeolatitudes. We use this to quantify patterns of long-term change in fleshy diaspores, examining the timing and geographical context of important shifts as a test of the potential evolutionary and climatic explanations. We find that the fleshy fruit sizes of angiosperms increased for much of the Cretaceous, during the early diversification of angiosperms from herbaceous ancestors with small fruits. Nevertheless, this did not cause a substantial net change in the fleshy diaspore size distributions across seed plants, because gymnosperms had achieved a similar size distribution by at least the Late Triassic. Furthermore, gymnosperm-dominated Mesozoic ecosystems were mostly open, and harboured low proportions of specialised frugivores until the latest Cretaceous, suggesting that changes in vegetation structure and plant-frugivore co-evolution were probably not important drivers of fleshy diaspore size distributions over long timescales. Instead, fleshy diaspore size distributions may be largely constrained by physical or life-history limits that are shared among groups and diversify as a plant group expands into different growth forms/sizes, habitats, and climate regimes. Mesozoic gymnosperm floras had a low abundance of fleshy diaspores (<50% fleshy diaspore taxa), that was surpassed by some low-latitude angiosperm floras in the Cretaceous. Eocene angiosperm floras show a mid- to high latitude peak in fleshy fruit abundance, with very high proportions of fleshy fruits that even exceed those seen at low latitudes both in the Eocene and today. Mid- to high latitude proportions of fleshy fruits declined substantially over the Eocene-Oligocene transition, resulting in a shift to more modern-like geographic distributions with the highest proportion of fleshy fruits occurring in low-latitude tropical assemblages. This shift was coincident with global cooling and the onset of Southern Hemisphere glaciation, suggesting that rapid cooling at mid- and high latitudes caused a decrease in availability of the climate conditions most favourable for fleshy fruits in angiosperms. Future research could be focused on examining the environmental niches of modern fleshy fruits, and the potential effects of climate change on fleshy fruit and frugivore diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duhita Naware
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Roger Benson
- American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024-5102, USA
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Becker A, Bachelier JB, Carrive L, Conde E Silva N, Damerval C, Del Rio C, Deveaux Y, Di Stilio VS, Gong Y, Jabbour F, Kramer EM, Nadot S, Pabón-Mora N, Wang W. A cornucopia of diversity-Ranunculales as a model lineage. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2024; 75:1800-1822. [PMID: 38109712 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erad492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
The Ranunculales are a hyperdiverse lineage in many aspects of their phenotype, including growth habit, floral and leaf morphology, reproductive mode, and specialized metabolism. Many Ranunculales species, such as opium poppy and goldenseal, have a high medicinal value. In addition, the order includes a large number of commercially important ornamental plants, such as columbines and larkspurs. The phylogenetic position of the order with respect to monocots and core eudicots and the diversity within this lineage make the Ranunculales an excellent group for studying evolutionary processes by comparative studies. Lately, the phylogeny of Ranunculales was revised, and genetic and genomic resources were developed for many species, allowing comparative analyses at the molecular scale. Here, we review the literature on the resources for genetic manipulation and genome sequencing, the recent phylogeny reconstruction of this order, and its fossil record. Further, we explain their habitat range and delve into the diversity in their floral morphology, focusing on perianth organ identity, floral symmetry, occurrences of spurs and nectaries, sexual and pollination systems, and fruit and dehiscence types. The Ranunculales order offers a wealth of opportunities for scientific exploration across various disciplines and scales, to gain novel insights into plant biology for researchers and plant enthusiasts alike.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Becker
- Plant Development Group, Institute of Botany, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Julien B Bachelier
- Institute of Biology/Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Laetitia Carrive
- Université de Rennes, UMR CNRS 6553, Ecosystèmes-Biodiversité-Evolution, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France
| | - Natalia Conde E Silva
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Génétique Quantitative et Evolution-Le Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Catherine Damerval
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Génétique Quantitative et Evolution-Le Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Cédric Del Rio
- CR2P - Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris, MNHN - Sorbonne Université - CNRS, 43 Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Yves Deveaux
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Génétique Quantitative et Evolution-Le Moulon, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | | | - Yan Gong
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Florian Jabbour
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP39, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Elena M Kramer
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Sophie Nadot
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Natalia Pabón-Mora
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 050010, Colombia
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093 China and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049China
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Donovan MP, Wilf P, Iglesias A, Cúneo NR, Labandeira CC. Insect herbivore and fungal communities on Agathis (Araucariaceae) from the latest Cretaceous to Recent. PHYTOKEYS 2023; 226:109-158. [PMID: 37274755 PMCID: PMC10239022 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.226.99316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Agathis (Araucariaceae) is a genus of broadleaved conifers that today inhabits lowland to upper montane rainforests of Australasia and Southeast Asia. A previous report showed that the earliest known fossils of the genus, from the early Paleogene and possibly latest Cretaceous of Patagonian Argentina, host diverse assemblages of insect and fungal associations, including distinctive leaf mines. Here, we provide complete documentation of the fossilized Agathis herbivore communities from Cretaceous to Recent, describing and comparing insect and fungal damage on Agathis across four latest Cretaceous to early Paleogene time slices in Patagonia with that on 15 extant species. Notable fossil associations include various types of external foliage feeding, leaf mines, galls, and a rust fungus. In addition, enigmatic structures, possibly armored scale insect (Diaspididae) covers or galls, occur on Agathis over a 16-million-year period in the early Paleogene. The extant Agathis species, throughout the range of the genus, are associated with a diverse array of mostly undescribed damage similar to the fossils, demonstrating the importance of Agathis as a host of diverse insect herbivores and pathogens and their little-known evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P. Donovan
- Geological Collections, Gantz Family Collections Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USANational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionWashingtonUnited States of America
- Department of Paleobotany and Paleoecology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAGeological Collections, Gantz Family Collections Center, Field Museum of Natural HistoryChicagoUnited States of America
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USAPennsylvania State UniversityPennsylvaniaUnited States of America
- Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USACleveland Museum of Natural HistoryClevelandUnited States of America
| | - Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USACleveland Museum of Natural HistoryClevelandUnited States of America
| | - Ari Iglesias
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro 8400, ArgentinaUniversidad Nacional del ComahueRío NegroArgentina
| | - N. Rubén Cúneo
- CONICET-Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Chubut 9100, ArgentinaMuseo Paleontológico Egidio FeruglioTrelewArgentina
| | - Conrad C. Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USAPennsylvania State UniversityPennsylvaniaUnited States of America
- Department of Entomology and Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USAUniversity of MarylandMarylandUnited States of America
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, ChinaCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
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Wilf P, Iglesias A, Gandolfo MA. The first Gondwanan Euphorbiaceae fossils reset the biogeographic history of the Macaranga-Mallotus clade. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2023; 110:e16169. [PMID: 37128981 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE The spurge family Euphorbiaceae is prominent in tropical rainforests worldwide, particularly in Asia. There is little consensus on the biogeographic origins of the family or its principal lineages. No confirmed spurge macrofossils have come from Gondwana. METHODS We describe the first Gondwanan macrofossils of Euphorbiaceae, represented by two infructescences and associated peltate leaves from the early Eocene (52 Myr ago [Ma]) Laguna del Hunco site in Chubut, Argentina. RESULTS The infructescences are panicles bearing tiny, pedicellate, spineless capsular fruits with two locules, two axile lenticular seeds, and two unbranched, plumose stigmas. The fossils' character combination only occurs today in some species of the Macaranga-Mallotus clade (MMC; Euphorbiaceae), a widespread Old-World understory group often thought to have tropical Asian origins. The associated leaves are consistent with extant Macaranga. CONCLUSIONS The new fossils are the oldest known for the MMC, demonstrating its Gondwanan history and marking its divergence by at least 52 Ma. This discovery makes an Asian origin of the MMC unlikely because immense oceanic distances separated Asia and South America 52 Ma. The only other MMC reproductive fossils so far known are also from the southern hemisphere (early Miocene, southern New Zealand), far from the Asian tropics. The MMC, along with many other Gondwanan survivors, most likely entered Asia during the Neogene Sahul-Sunda collision. Our discovery adds to a substantial series of well-dated, well-preserved fossils from one undersampled region, Patagonia, that have changed our understanding of plant biogeographic history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Ari Iglesias
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, R8400FRF, Argentina
| | - María A Gandolfo
- L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
- Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Trelew, Chubut, 9100, Argentina
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Feng Z, Sui Q, Yang JY, Guo Y, McLoughlin S. Specialized herbivory in fossil leaves reveals convergent origins of nyctinasty. Curr Biol 2023; 33:720-726.e2. [PMID: 36796358 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Plants can move in various complex ways in response to external stimuli.1,2 These mechanisms include responses to environmental triggers, such as tropic responses to light or gravity and nastic responses to humidity or contact.3 Nyctinasty, the movements involving circadian rhythmic folding at night and opening at daytime of plant leaves or leaflets, has attracted the attention of scientists and the public for centuries.4,5 In his canonical work entitled The Power of Movement in Plants, Charles Darwin carried out pioneering observations to document the diverse range of movements in plants.6 His systematic examination of plants showing "sleep [folding] movements of leaves" led him to conclude that the legume family (Fabaceae) includes many more nyctinastic species than all other families combined.3 Darwin also found that a specialized motor organ, the pulvinus, is responsible for most sleep movements of plant leaves, although differential cell division and the hydrolysis of glycosides and phyllanthurinolactone also facilitate nyctinasty in some plants.7,8 However, the origin, evolutionary history, and functional benefits of foliar sleep movements remain ambiguous owing to the lack of fossil evidence for this process. Here, we document the first fossil evidence of foliar nyctinasty based on a symmetrical style of insect feeding damage (Folifenestra symmetrica isp. nov.) in gigantopterid seed-plant leaves from the upper Permian (∼259-252 Ma) of China. The pattern of insect damage indicates that the host leaves were attacked when mature but folded. Our finding reveals that foliar nyctinasty extends back to the late Paleozoic and evolved independently among various plant lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuo Feng
- Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China.
| | - Qun Sui
- Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
| | | | - Yun Guo
- Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Stephen McLoughlin
- Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
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Génin F, Mazza PP, Pellen R, Rabineau M, Aslanian D, Masters JC. Co-evolution assists geographic dispersal: the case of Madagascar. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Interspecific associations may limit the dispersal of individual species, but may also facilitate it when entire co-evolved systems expand their geographic ranges. We tested the recent proposal that episodic land bridges linked Africa and Madagascar at three stages during the Cenozoic by comparing divergence estimates of Madagascar’s angiosperm taxa with their dispersal mechanisms. Plants that rely on gravity for seed dispersal indicate at least two episodes of land connection between Africa and Madagascar, in the Early Palaeocene and Early Oligocene. Seed dispersal by strepsirrhine primates possibly evolved in the Palaeocene, with the divergence of at least one endemic Malagasy angiosperm genus, Burasaia (Menispermaceae). This genus may have facilitated the lemur colonization of Madagascar. Frugivory, nectarivory and gummivory probably generalized in the Oligocene, with the co-evolution of modern lemurs and at least 10 new Malagasy angiosperm families. In the Late Miocene, more angiosperms were probably brought from Africa by birds via a discontinuous land connection, and radiated on Madagascar in diffuse association with birds (asities) and dwarf nocturnal lemurs (cheirogaleids). During the same connective episode, Madagascar was probably colonized by hippopotamuses, which both followed and re-seeded a variety of plants, forming the grassy Uapaca ‘tapia’ forest and ericoid ‘savoka’ thicket.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien Génin
- African Primate Initiative for Ecology and Speciation (APIES) and Africa Earth Observatory Network (AEON), Earth Stewardship Science Research Institute, Nelson Mandela University , Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) , South Africa
| | - Paul Pa Mazza
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence , via La Pira, Florence , Italy
| | - Romain Pellen
- African Primate Initiative for Ecology and Speciation (APIES) and Africa Earth Observatory Network (AEON), Earth Stewardship Science Research Institute, Nelson Mandela University , Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) , South Africa
| | - Marina Rabineau
- CNRS, Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploration de la Mer (IFREMER ), UMR 6538 Geo-Ocean, IUEM, Univ Brest, Plouzané , France
| | - Daniel Aslanian
- CNRS, Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploration de la Mer (IFREMER ), UMR 6538 Geo-Ocean, IUEM, Univ Brest, Plouzané , France
| | - Judith C Masters
- African Primate Initiative for Ecology and Speciation (APIES) and Africa Earth Observatory Network (AEON), Earth Stewardship Science Research Institute, Nelson Mandela University , Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) , South Africa
- Department of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University , Stellenbosch , South Africa
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Jud NA, Gandolfo MA. Fossil evidence from South America for the diversification of Cunoniaceae by the earliest Palaeocene. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2021; 127:305-315. [PMID: 32860407 PMCID: PMC7872129 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcaa154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Cunoniaceae are woody plants with a distribution that suggests a complex history of Gondwanan vicariance, long-distance dispersal, diversification and extinction. Only four out of ~27 genera in Cunoniaceae are native to South America today, but the discovery of extinct species from Argentine Patagonia is providing new information about the history of this family in South America. METHODS We describe fossil flowers collected from early Danian (early Palaeocene, ~64 Mya) deposits of the Salamanca Formation. We compare them with similar flowers from extant and extinct species using published literature and herbarium specimens. We used simultaneous analysis of morphology and available chloroplast DNA sequences (trnL-F, rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA) to determine the probable relationship of these fossils to living Cunoniaceae and the co-occurring fossil species Lacinipetalum spectabilum. KEY RESULTS Cunoniantha bicarpellata gen. et sp. nov. is the second species of Cunoniaceae to be recognized among the flowers preserved in the Salamanca Formation. Cunoniantha flowers are pentamerous and complete, the anthers contain in situ pollen, and the gynoecium is bicarpellate and syncarpous with two free styles. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Cunoniantha belongs to crown-group Cunoniaceae among the core Cunoniaceae clade, although it does not have obvious affinity with any tribe. Lacinipetalum spectabilum, also from the Salamanca Formation, belongs to the Cunoniaceae crown group as well, but close to tribe Schizomerieae. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the importance of West Gondwana in the evolution of Cunoniaceae during the early Palaeogene. The co-occurrence of C. bicarpellata and L. spectabilum, belonging to different clades within Cunoniaceae, indicates that the diversification of crown-group Cunoniaceae was under way by 64 Mya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan A Jud
- Department of Biology, William Jewell College, Liberty, MO, USA
| | - Maria A Gandolfo
- L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Wilf P, Wing SL, Meyer HW, Rose JA, Saha R, Serre T, Cúneo NR, Donovan MP, Erwin DM, Gandolfo MA, González-Akre E, Herrera F, Hu S, Iglesias A, Johnson KR, Karim TS, Zou X. An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning. PHYTOKEYS 2021; 187:93-128. [PMID: 35068970 PMCID: PMC8702526 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.187.72350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/05/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Leaves are the most abundant and visible plant organ, both in the modern world and the fossil record. Identifying foliage to the correct plant family based on leaf architecture is a fundamental botanical skill that is also critical for isolated fossil leaves, which often, especially in the Cenozoic, represent extinct genera and species from extant families. Resources focused on leaf identification are remarkably scarce; however, the situation has improved due to the recent proliferation of digitized herbarium material, live-plant identification applications, and online collections of cleared and fossil leaf images. Nevertheless, the need remains for a specialized image dataset for comparative leaf architecture. We address this gap by assembling an open-access database of 30,252 images of vouchered leaf specimens vetted to family level, primarily of angiosperms, including 26,176 images of cleared and x-rayed leaves representing 354 families and 4,076 of fossil leaves from 48 families. The images maintain original resolution, have user-friendly filenames, and are vetted using APG and modern paleobotanical standards. The cleared and x-rayed leaves include the Jack A. Wolfe and Leo J. Hickey contributions to the National Cleared Leaf Collection and a collection of high-resolution scanned x-ray negatives, housed in the Division of Paleobotany, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.; and the Daniel I. Axelrod Cleared Leaf Collection, housed at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley. The fossil images include a sampling of Late Cretaceous to Eocene paleobotanical sites from the Western Hemisphere held at numerous institutions, especially from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (late Eocene, Colorado), as well as several other localities from the Late Cretaceous to Eocene of the Western USA and the early Paleogene of Colombia and southern Argentina. The dataset facilitates new research and education opportunities in paleobotany, comparative leaf architecture, systematics, and machine learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USAPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUnited States of America
| | - Scott L. Wing
- Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USADepartment of Paleobiology, Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, DCUnited States of America
| | - Herbert W. Meyer
- Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park Service, Florissant, CO 80816, USAFlorissant Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park ServiceFlorissantUnited States of America
| | - Jacob A. Rose
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USABrown UniversityProvidenceUnited States of America
| | - Rohit Saha
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USAMuseo Paleontológico E. FeruglioTrelewArgentina
| | - Thomas Serre
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USAMuseo Paleontológico E. FeruglioTrelewArgentina
| | - N. Rubén Cúneo
- CONICET-Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentinaepartment of Paleobotany and Paleoecology, Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryClevelandUnited States of America
| | - Michael P. Donovan
- Department of Paleobotany and Paleoecology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAUniversity of California-BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States of America
| | - Diane M. Erwin
- University of California-Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA 94720, USACornell UniversityIthacaUnited States of America
| | - María A. Gandolfo
- LH Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USASmithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park,Front RoyalUnited States of America
| | - Erika González-Akre
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USANegaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural HistoryChicagoUnited States of America
| | - Fabiany Herrera
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605, USAYale UniversityNew HavenUnited States of America
| | - Shusheng Hu
- Division of Paleobotany, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USAInstituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente INIBIOMA, CONICET-UNComaSan Carlos de BarilocheArgentina
| | - Ari Iglesias
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente INIBIOMA, CONICET-UNComa, San Carlos de Bariloche 8400, Río Negro, ArgentinaDepartment of Paleobiology, Smithsonian InstitutionWashingtonUnited States of America
| | - Kirk R. Johnson
- Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USADepartment of Paleobiology, Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, DCUnited States of America
| | - Talia S. Karim
- University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO 80503, USAUniversity of Colorado Museum of Natural HistoryBoulderUnited States of America
| | - Xiaoyu Zou
- Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USAPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUnited States of America
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Deanna R, Wilf P, Gandolfo MA. New physaloid fruit-fossil species from early Eocene South America. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2020; 107:1749-1762. [PMID: 33247843 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Solanaceae is a scientifically and economically important angiosperm family with a minimal fossil record and an intriguing early evolutionary history. Here, we report a newly discovered fossil lantern fruit with a suite of features characteristic of Physalideae within Solanaceae. The fossil comes from the early Eocene Laguna del Hunco site (ca. 52 Ma) in Chubut, Argentina, which previously yielded the only other physaloid fruit fossil, Physalis infinemundi. METHODS The fruit morphology and calyx venation pattern of the new fossil were compared with P. infinemundi and extant species of Solanaceae. RESULTS Physalis hunickenii sp. nov. is clearly distinct from P. infinemundi in its fruiting calyx with wider primary veins, longer and thinner lobes, and especially in its venation pattern with high density, transverse tertiary veins; these features support its placement in a new species. In comparison with extant physaloid genera, the calyx venation pattern and other diagnostic traits reinforce placement of the new fossil, like P. infinemundi, within the tribe Physalideae of Solanaceae. CONCLUSIONS Both species of fossil nightshades from Laguna del Hunco represent crown-group Solanaceae but are older than all prior age estimates of the family. Although at least 20 transoceanic dispersals have been proposed as the driver of range expansion of Solanaceae, the Patagonian fossils push back the diversification of the family to Gondwanan times. Thus, overland dispersal across Gondwana is now a likely scenario for at least some biogeographic patterns, in light of the ancient trans-Antarctic land connections between South America and Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocío Deanna
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, IMBIV (CONICET-UNC), CC 495, Córdoba, 5000, Argentina
- Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (FCQ, UNC), Medina Allende s.n., Córdoba, 5000, Argentina
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80305, USA
| | - Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA
| | - Maria A Gandolfo
- L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA
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Zamaloa MC, Gandolfo MA, Nixon KC. 52 million years old Eucalyptus flower sheds more than pollen grains. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2020; 107:1763-1771. [PMID: 33274448 PMCID: PMC7839439 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Fossils provide fundamental evidence of the evolutionary processes that crafted today's biodiversity and consequently for understanding life on Earth. We report the finding of Myrtaceidites eucalyptoides pollen grains preserved within the anthers of a 52-million-year-old Eucalyptus flower collected at Laguna del Hunco locality of Argentinean Patagonia and discuss its implications in understanding the evolutionary history of the iconic Australian genus Eucalyptus. METHODS Pollen grains were extracted from the flower's anthers and were then observed under light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The phylogenetic position of the fossil was investigated by adding pollen data to a previously published total-evidence matrix and analyzing it using parsimony. RESULTS We erect the species Eucalyptus xoshemium for the fossil flower. Pollen extracted from E. xoshemium belongs to the species Myrtaceidites eucalyptoides, which, until now, was only known as dispersed pollen. The numerous pollen grains recovered from the single flower allowed estimation of M. eucalyptoides' variability. Results of the phylogenetic analysis reinforce the position of this fossil within crown group Eucalyptus. CONCLUSIONS The discovery of these pollen grains within a Patagonian Eucalyptus fossil flower confirms the hypothesis that Myrtaceidites eucalyptoides represents fossil pollen in the Eucalyptus lineage, extends the geographic and stratigraphic fossil pollen record, and supports an earlier age for crown-group eucalypts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria C. Zamaloa
- Museo Paleontológico Egidio FeruglioAvda. Fontana 140Trelew, Chubut9100Argentina
| | - Maria A. Gandolfo
- LH Bailey HortoriumPlant Biology SectionSchool of Integrative Plant ScienceCornell UniversityIthacaNY14853USA
| | - Kevin C. Nixon
- LH Bailey HortoriumPlant Biology SectionSchool of Integrative Plant ScienceCornell UniversityIthacaNY14853USA
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