skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Early Cretaceous Umkomasia from Mongolia: implications for homology of corystosperm cupules

Journal Article · · New Phytologist
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13871· OSTI ID:1401178
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]
  1. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences 39 East Beijing Road Nanjing 210008 China, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University 195 Prospect Street New Haven CT 06511 USA
  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Brown University Providence RI 02912 USA
  3. Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe IL 60022 USA
  4. Paleontological Center Mongolian Academy of Sciences PO Box 260 Ulaanbaatar‐51 Mongolia
  5. Department of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences Niigata University 8050 2‐cho Ikarashi Nishi‐ku Niigata 950‐2181 Japan
  6. Botanischer Garten Rombergpark Am Rombergpark 49b Dortmund 44225 Germany
  7. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University 195 Prospect Street New Haven CT 06511 USA
+ Show Author Affiliations

Summary Corystosperms, a key extinct group of Late Permian to Early Cretaceous plants, are important for understanding seed plant phylogeny, including the evolution of the angiosperm carpel and anatropous bitegmic ovule. Here, we describe a new species of corystosperm seed‐bearing organ, Umkomasia mongolica sp. nov., based on hundreds of three‐dimensionally preserved mesofossils from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Individual seed‐bearing units of U. mongolica consist of a bract subtending an axis that bifurcates, with each fork (cupule stalk) bearing a cupule near the tip. Each cupule is formed by the strongly reflexed cupule stalk and two lateral flaps that partially enclose an erect seed. The seed is borne at, or close to, the tip of the reflexed cupule stalk, with the micropyle oriented towards the stalk base. The corystosperm cupule is generally interpreted as a modified leaf that bears a seed on its abaxial surface. However, U. mongolica suggests that an earlier interpretation, in which the seed is borne directly on an axis (shoot), is equally likely. The ‘axial’ interpretation suggests a possible relationship of corystosperms to Ginkgo . It also suggests that the cupules of corystosperms may be less distinct from those of Caytonia than has previously been supposed.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
DE‐AC02‐06CH11357; AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1401178
Journal Information:
New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Vol. 210 Journal Issue: 4; ISSN 0028-646X
Publisher:
Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 30 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (31)

Seed ferns survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in Tasmania journal April 2008
Fossil Ginkgoales from the Tico flora Santa Cruz Province, Argentina journal June 1965
Distinguishing angiophytes from the earliest angiosperms: A Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) fruit-like reproductive structure journal January 2009
Phylotranscriptomic analysis of the origin and early diversification of land plants journal October 2014
Ovule Development in Ginkgo biloba L., with Emphasis on the Collar and Nucellus
  • Douglas, Andrew W.; Stevenson, Dennis W.; Little, Damon P.
  • International Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 168, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1086/521693
journal November 2007
Glandulocalyx upatoiensis, a fossil flower of Ericales (Actinidiaceae/Clethraceae) from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) of Georgia, USA journal April 2012
Modified basal elements in Dicroidium fronds (Corystospermales) journal January 2012
New evidence for laurasian corystosperms: Umkomasia from the Upper Triassic of Northern China journal April 2008
New corystosperm ovulate fructifications from the Middle Triassic of eastern Australia journal January 1987
New perspectives on the Mesozoic seed fern order Corystospermales based on attached organs from the Triassic of Antarctica journal June 2000
Mesozoic seed ferns: Old paradigms, new discoveries 1 journal January 2006
FIRST REPORT OF THE FERTILE PLANT GENUS UMKOMASIA FROM LATE PERMIAN BEDS IN INDIA AND ITS BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE journal July 2008
An overview of fossil Ginkgoales journal March 2009
First record of Ginkgo-related fertile organs (Hamshawvia, Stachyopitys) and leaves (Baiera, Sphenobaiera) in the Triassic of Brazil, Santa Maria formation journal November 2015
The Morphology of the Reproductive Structures in the Podocarpineae1 journal January 1913
A New Voltzian Seed Cone from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia and Its Implications for the Evolution of Ancient Conifers journal October 2015
Pteridosperms are the backbone of seed-plant phylogeny 1 journal January 2006
Typical Triassic Gondwanan floral elements in the Upper Permian of the paleotropics journal January 2006
Triassic plant fossils from Pollock Road, Southland, New Zealand journal January 1994
Seed ferns from the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic: Any angiosperm ancestors lurking there? journal January 2009
Meeusella and the origin of stamens journal October 1988
Whole-Plant Reconstruction and Phylogenetic Relationships of Elatides zhoui sp. nov. (Cupressaceae) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia journal October 2014
The science of plant morphology: definition, history, and role in modern biology journal October 2001
Pinaceae-like reproductive morphology in Schizolepidopsis canicularis sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of Mongolia journal December 2013
Habit and Ecology of the Petriellales, an Unusual Group of Seed Plants from the Triassic of Gondwana
  • Bomfleur, Benjamin; Decombeix, Anne-Laure; Schwendemann, Andrew B.
  • International Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 175, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1086/678087
journal November 2014
Angiosperm ovules: diversity, development, evolution journal May 2011
Anatomy of Umkomasia (Corystospermales) from the Triassic of Antarctica journal April 2002
Interpreting the Function of Saccate Pollen in Ancient Conifers and Other Seed Plants journal October 2008
Basic features of gymnosperm systematics and phylogeny as evidenced by the fossil record journal January 1984
Seed ferns and the origin of angiosperms journal January 2006
Phase-contrast X-ray microtomography links Cretaceous seeds with Gnetales and Bennettitales journal November 2007

Similar Records

Two early eudicot fossil flowers from the Kamikitaba assemblage (Coniacian, Late Cretaceous) in northeastern Japan
Journal Article · Thu May 11 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Plant Research · OSTI ID:1401178
Increased adaxial stomatal density is associated with greater mesophyll surface area exposed to intercellular air spaces and mesophyll conductance in diverse C 4 grasses
Journal Article · Wed Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · New Phytologist · OSTI ID:1401178
The ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Laccaria bicolor releases a secreted β‐1,4 endoglucanase that plays a key role in symbiosis development
Journal Article · Fri Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · New Phytologist · OSTI ID:1401178
+12 more

Related Subjects