Why Are Bryophytes So Rare in the Fossil Record? A Spotlight on Taphonomy and Fossil Preservation

Tomescu, Alexandru M. F.; Bomfleur, Benjamin; Bippus, Alexander C.; Savoretti, Adolfina

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-813012-4.00016-4

Cited by 48 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 126 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tomescu et al () published a useful overview of fossil bryophyte diversity, which demonstrates that the fossils documented to date represent 449 distinct bryophyte types documented from pre‐Miocene rocks. This number is orders of magnitude smaller than that of vascular plants (Tomescu et al, ) and insects. For example, there is a single moss record known from Cretaceous Taimyr amber (Ignatov et al, ), whereas the number of insect inclusions known from that locality is already ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, phylochronological studies of bryophytes remain less detailed compared to those in many other groups of organisms, due to scarcity of data from the fossil record. Tomescu et al (2018) published a useful overview of fossil bryophyte diversity, which demonstrates that the fossils documented to date represent 449 distinct bryophyte types documented from pre-Miocene rocks. This number is orders of magnitude smaller than that of vascular plants and insects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relatively few localities of Paleozoic and Mesozoic have yielded such bryophyte material of: Muscites bertrandii Lignier from the Upper Carboniferous of France (Lignier, 1914), Merceria augustica Smoot & T.N. Taylor from the Permian of Antarctica (Smoot & Taylor, 1988), and a number of genera found in the Lower Cretaceous of British Columbia (Shelton et al, 2015(Shelton et al, , 2016Bippus et al, 2017;Savoretti et al, 2018;Tomescu et al, 2018), California (Tomescu, 2016) and Argentina (Vera, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

How to rely on the unreliable: Examples from Mesozoic bryophytes of Transbaikalia

Mamontov

Ignatov

2019

J of Sytematics Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Three new fossil bryophytes are described from Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Transbaikalia region of Russia. The complex thalloid hepatic Khasurtythallus monosolenioides gen. et sp. nov. belongs to the Marchantiidae, but its combination of characters precludes unequivocal placement in any of the five orders of this subclass, representing most likely an extinct lineage. Paleaethallus squarrosus gen. et sp. nov. is a thalloid plant with scales similar to those of complex thalloid hepatics, although their arrangement and the overall plant structure has little in common with any extant hepatics. Dispersed moss capsules, three of which have attached calyptrae, are described as a form genus Kulindobryum gen. nov. Despite incomplete preservation, some rare characters indicate possible relationship to the genus Tayloria of the Splachnaceae, an extant family of mosses adapted to grow on animal dung, dead bodies and bones. Notably, Kulindobryum co‐occurs with bones of the small feathered dinosaurs Kulindadromeus, which also supports an affiliation of Kulindobryum with the Splachnaceae. The most common and best known Mesozoic moss for the region, the genus Bryokhutuliinia, is appraised for its systematic position and probable affinities with the Dicranales. A scoring approach is introduced for the comparative method of taxonomic placement of fossils with partial suites of morphological characters at the family or order level.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How to rely on the unreliable: Examples from Mesozoic bryophytes of Transbaikalia

Mamontov

Ignatov

2019

J of Sytematics Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Investigation of the evolutionary history of bryophytes and relatives is hampered by the fragmentary and ambiguous fossil record of these plants, likely linked to the lower preservation potential of their nonlignified tissues (Taylor et al, 2009;Kenrick et al, 2012;Tomescu et al, 2018). Recovered palynomorphs suggest that bryophyte-like plants were an important part of early terrestrial ecosystems during the Ordovician and Silurian (Renzaglia et al, 2007;Kenrick et al, 2012;Edwards et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of phytolith deposition in modern bryophytes, and implications for the fossil record and influence on silica cycle in early land plant evolution

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Anecdotal evidence indicating substantial silica accumulation in tissues of bryophytes suggests that silica (phytolith) deposition evolved early on in embryophytes. To test this hypothesis, we conducted the first survey of phytolith content representing the major liverwort, moss and hornwort clades. We also assessed the diagnostic value of bryophyte phytoliths. Silica extracted from bryophyte material through wet‐ashing was described, focusing on abundance, classifying taxa as nonproducers, light producers and higher producers; and phytolith morphotypes. Ancestral state reconstruction of these characters was performed for mosses and liverworts using published phylogenies. Phytoliths are present in multiple subclades within liverworts, mosses and hornworts, but these phyla were not ancestrally high silica‐producers. Higher deposition occurs in liverworts and mosses with specialized water‐conducting cells. We hypothesize that active, high silica accumulation was not ancestral for embryophytes, but became possible in clades with increased water conductance. Phytoliths of diagnostic structures (e.g. pegged rhizoids) could help track bryophyte clades or water conductance evolution in the fossil record.

show abstract

Cynodontium luthii sp. nov.: a permineralized moss gametophyte from the Late Cretaceous of the North Slope of Alaska

Bippus

Rothwell

Stockey

2021

American J of Botany

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PREMISE Mosses are a major component of Arctic vegetation today, with >500 species known to date. However, the origins of the Arctic moss flora are poorly documented in the fossil record, especially prior to the Pliocene. Here, we present the first anatomically preserved pre‐Cenozoic Arctic moss and discuss how the unique biology of bryophytes has facilitated their success in polar environments over geologic time. METHODS A permineralized fossil moss gametophyte within a block of Late Cretaceous terrestrial limestone, collected along the Colville River on the North Slope of Alaska, was studied in serial sections prepared using the cellulose acetate peel technique. RESULTS The moss gametophyte is branched and has leaves with a broad base, narrow blade, and excurrent costa. We describe this fossil as Cynodontium luthii sp. nov., an extinct species of a genus that is known from the High Arctic today. Cynodontium luthii is the oldest evidence of the family Rhabdoweisiaceae (by ≥18 Ma) and reveals that genera of haplolepideous mosses known in the extant Arctic flora also lived in high‐latitude temperate deciduous forests during the Late Cretaceous. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of C. luthii in Cretaceous sediments, together with a rich Pliocene‐to‐Holocene fossil record of extant moss genera in the High Arctic, suggests that some moss lineages have exploited their poikilohydric, cold‐ and desiccation‐tolerant physiology to live in the region when it experienced both temperate and freezing climates.

show abstract

Why Are Bryophytes So Rare in the Fossil Record? A Spotlight on Taphonomy and Fossil Preservation

Cited by 48 publications

References 126 publications

How to rely on the unreliable: Examples from Mesozoic bryophytes of Transbaikalia

How to rely on the unreliable: Examples from Mesozoic bryophytes of Transbaikalia

Evolution of phytolith deposition in modern bryophytes, and implications for the fossil record and influence on silica cycle in early land plant evolution

Cynodontium luthii sp. nov.: a permineralized moss gametophyte from the Late Cretaceous of the North Slope of Alaska

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About