A fossil species of the enigmatic early polypod fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae) in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar

Regalado, Ledis; Schmidt, Alexander R.; Appelhans, Marc S.; Ilsemann, Bork; Schneider, Harald; Krings, Michael; Heinrichs, Jochen

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14985-7

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(67 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These fossils were used to constrain the crown of Polypodiales by Pryer et al (2004) and Schneider et al (2004), or to constrain the stem of Polypodiales by Qi et al (2018). Recent studies on the Myanmar amber fossils (late Albian-earliest Cenomanian, Cretaceous, c. 100.5 Ma) have recorded remarkable fossils-at least one representative of four of six suborders of Polypodiales: Aspleniineae (Thelypteridaceae; Regalado et al, 2018), Dennstaedtiineae (Dennstaedtiaceae; Schneider et al, 2016), Lindsaeineae (Cystodiaceae, Regalado et al, 2017a;Lindsaeaceae, Regalado et al, 2017b;Li et al, 2020) and Pteridineae (Pteridaceae; Regalado et al, 2019). All of the fossils mentioned above that the diversification of polypod ferns had already begun by the end of the Early Cretaceous.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous diversification of Polypodiales and angiosperms in the Mesozoic

Zhang

et al. 2021

Cladistics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Comprising about 82% of the extant fern species diversity, Polypodiales are generally believed to have diversified in the Late Cretaceous. We estimated the divergence times of Polypodiales using both penalized likelihood and Bayesian methods, based on a dataset consisting of 208 plastomes representing all 28 families and 14 fossil constraints reflecting current interpretations of fossil record. Our plastome phylogeny recovered the same six major lineages as a recent nuclear phylogeny, but the position of Dennstaedtiineae was different. The present phylogeny showed high resolution of relationships among the families of Polypodiales, especially among those forming the Aspleniineae. The divergence time estimates supported the most recent common ancestor of Polypodiales and its closest relative dating back to the Triassic, establishment of the major lineages in the Jurassic, and a likely accelerated radiation during the late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. The estimated divergence patterns of Polypodiales and angiosperms converge to a scenario in which their main lineages were established simultaneously shortly before the onset of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, and further suggest a pre-Cretaceous hidden history for both lineages. The pattern of simultaneous diversifications shown here elucidate an important gap in our understanding of the Terrestrial Revolution that shaped today's ecosystems.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous diversification of Polypodiales and angiosperms in the Mesozoic

Zhang

et al. 2021

Cladistics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…five tonnes per year) is excavated from these deposits. Eight fossils of different families within the Polypodiales and many sporangia and spores have been found in Burmese amber (Poinar & Buckley, 2008;Schneider et al, 2016;Regalado et al, 2017aRegalado et al, , 2017bRegalado et al, , 2018Regalado et al, , 2019Li et al, 2018Li et al, , 2019 and several taxa await description. Four fern species were described from Dominican amber, so far (Gómez, 1982;Lóriga et al, 2014;Schneider et al, 2015;Sundue & Poinar, 2016).…”

Section: Fern Diversity In Baltic Ambermentioning

confidence: 99%

How diverse were ferns in the Baltic amber forest?

Sadowski

Seyfullah

Regalado³

et al. 2019

J of Sytematics Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Diverse temperate forest types and a high atmospheric humidity have recently been suggested for the Eocene source area of Baltic amber. However, ferns are astonishingly rare as inclusions in this amber, which is in contrast to other seed‐free land plants, fungi, and lichens. Moreover, the identities of some of the few described putative fern taxa are dubious, and some fossils were even assigned to the Paleozoic seed fern genera Alethopteris, Pecopteris and to the form genus Sphenopteris containing Paleozoic and Mesozoic fern‐like leaf fossils. Here, we review previously described fern inclusions from Baltic amber and identify further fern‐like leaf inclusions as belonging to the extant angiosperm genus Comptonia (sweet ferns, Myricaceae). We conclude that only one taxon, Matonia striata (Matoniaceae), can with confidence be identified as a Polypodiopsida representative. Although “Pecopteris” humboldtiana is so far only known as sterile foliage, its leaf morphology strongly suggests that also this taxon belongs to the Polypodiopsida rather than to any other tracheophyte lineage. We propose accommodating “Pecopteris” humboldtiana in the new genus Berendtiopteris. “Alethopteris” serrata and “Sphenopteris” phyllocladoides are not to be regarded as evidence of ferns from Baltic amber. Reinvestigation of the holotypes of these two taxa did not reveal to which tracheophyte lineages these fossils belong. We suggest that the scarcity of fern remains from Baltic amber may reflect both a relatively low fern diversity in the source area of the fossil resin, and an absence or rarity of epiphytic and climbing ferns as observed in modern temperate forest ecosystems.

show abstract

“…Although the mid‐Cretaceous fossil record of the Polypodiales remains exceedingly meagre, recent discoveries of excellently preserved leaf fragments in Burmese amber have yielded evidence of several key lineages, including the Dennstaedtiineae (Schneider et al, ), Lindsaeineae (Regalado et al, , ; Li et al, ), and Aspleniineae (Regalado et al, ), and thus suggest that other lineages must have existed as well, but have not been documented in the fossil record to date. Discovery of a fossil assignable to the Pteridineae with confidence is therefore not unexpected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study demonstrates the value of new discoveries in broadening our understanding of the complexity of the vegetation that grew in ancient landscapes. Heinrichsia cheilanthoides, together with recently discovered fossils of members of several other fern families, including Thyrsopteridaceae, Cystodiaceae, Dennstaedtiaceae, Lindsaeaceae, and eupolypods incertae sedis, in Burmese amber (Poinar & Buckley, 2008;Regalado et al, 2017aRegalado et al, , 2017bRegalado et al, , 2018bSchneider et al, 2016b;Li et al, 2018Li et al, , 2019, suggests that the Cretaceous amber forests of Myanmar were characterized by a rich fern flora, which appears to have been dominated by polypods based on the evidence gathered to date (Schneider et al, 2016b). We are well aware of the facts that this assessment is very preliminary and that detailed observations of many more specimens and forms will be necessary to complete the inventory of ferns in Burmese amber.…”

Section: Concluding Remarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heinrichsia cheilanthoides gen. et sp. nov., a fossil fern in the family Pteridaceae (Polypodiales) from the Cretaceous amber forests of Myanmar

Regalado¹,

Schmidt

Müller³

et al. 2019

J of Sytematics Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Divergence time estimates suggest that most clades constituting the fern family Pteridaceae (Polypodiales) were in existence by the Early Cretaceous. However, fossil evidence to corroborate this remains exceedingly rare. Burmese amber is an important source of new information on the radiation of derived fern lineages during the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. This study describes Heinrichsia cheilanthoides gen. et sp. nov., a fern with suggested affinities to Pteridaceae, based on fertile foliage portions preserved in Early Cretaceous (~100 Ma) amber from Myanmar. Heinrichsia cheilanthoides is characterized by a pinnate‐pinnatifid frond that bears apical, marginal sori protected by a pseudoindusium. Sporangia are of the polypod type and contain tetrahedral‐globose, trilete spores with a striate perine. This discovery provides a new calibration point to test and refine molecular clock‐based concepts of the evolutionary history of the Pteridaceae. Heinrichsia cheilanthoides further substantiates the suggestion that the Cretaceous forests of Myanmar were home to a rich fern flora.

show abstract

A fossil species of the enigmatic early polypod fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae) in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar

Cited by 15 publications

References 38 publications

Simultaneous diversification of Polypodiales and angiosperms in the Mesozoic

Simultaneous diversification of Polypodiales and angiosperms in the Mesozoic

How diverse were ferns in the Baltic amber forest?

Heinrichsia cheilanthoides gen. et sp. nov., a fossil fern in the family Pteridaceae (Polypodiales) from the Cretaceous amber forests of Myanmar

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About