The protolepidodendralean lycopsid Leclercqia represents one of the best studied Devonian plants, with a worldwide distribution, but is not known from the palaeocontinents that constitute the present northeastern China. Two species of the genus, Leclercqia cf. L. complexa and Leclercqia sp., are described for the first time from the Hanuo Obo Formation of Dong Ujimqin Qi, Inner Mongolia, northeastern China, an area poorly documented by record of early vascular plants. The first species is characterized by three-dimensional, five-tipped leaves, which show a long, downwardly recurved, central segment and two pairs of short, lateral segments, while the latter species bears seven-tipped leaves and more robust axes. Our discovery confirms that the Hanuo Obo Formation is a distinctive lithological unit in Inner Mongolia, and suggests a Middle to Late Devonian (but no later than Frasnian) age for this formation based on the global spatio-temporal occurrence of Leclercqia. The present finding indicates the spread of protolepidodendraleans to the Xing'an Block, or a part of the Mongolian Block, representing the northernmost distribution of this group during the Devonian.
The Silurian and Devonian plant fossil record is the basis for our understanding of the early evolution of land plants, yet our appreciation of early global phytogeographic evolution has been constrained by the focus of most studies on deposits from Europe, North America, and, more recently, South China. Devonian plants have been recorded rarely from northeastern China, and among previous records, few plants have been illustrated and formally described. In this article, megafossil plants representing a Late Devonian-aged (probably Famennian) flora are described from a locality at northern Sonid Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia, NE China. The flora includes Melvillipteris sonidia new species, Archaeopteris sp., and fragments of some other plants. The new plant shows main axes and two orders of lateral branches. The first-order branches of this plant show a typical zigzag appearance and are borne in pairs on main axes. Second-order branches are straight or slightly flexed, and are borne helically or alternately on first-order branches. Sterile ultimate appendages and fertile structures of M. sonidia n. sp. are borne alternately on second-order branches. An associated palynological assemblage, as well as U-Pb ages of detrital zircon grains from adjacent horizons, are also reported, indicating a Late Devonian age in accord with the megafossil plants. The present study contributes to our appreciation of the Devonian floristic diversity of the Xing'an Block, and, through our review of the record of early vascular plants from NE China, more broadly to the understanding of the mid-latitude vegetation of the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Devonian.
The cover image is based on the Original Article Discovery of the protolepidodendralean lycopsid Leclercqia from the Middle to Upper Devonian of Inner Mongolia, northeastern China by Jinzhuang Xue et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.4147.
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