美丽花网翅虻Florinemestrius pulcherrimus Ren

本期封面化石照片为美丽花网翅虻Florinemestrius pulcherrimusRen,1998,隶属于双翅目短角亚目网翅虻科,采自中国辽宁省北票市晚侏罗世义县组地层。虫体保存十分完整,不仅翅脉、足、腹部清晰可见,口器以及虫体的细毛均保存良好。在辽西义县地层中还有大量该科的化石,分别归于2属3种。照片中的F.pulcherrimus拥有较短的长喙,另一种Protonemestrius jurassicus的喙近体长一半。现生的网翅虻是主要的访花昆虫,一些种类以花蜜和花汁为食。综合分析这批化石虻类的长喙、体毛以及与现生类群的比较,作者认为这些生活在晚侏罗纪的喜花虻类很可能利…     

世界上最早的被子植物化石在黑龙江发现

被子植物起源的时间和地点历来是植物学家和古植物学家十分关注的重大事件。以往的学者根据现代被子植物的原始类群集中在低纬度地区,被子植物化石发现于中纬度地区而推断被子植物起源于中、低纬度地带。但迄今低纬度发现的早期被子植物化石     

被子植物起源研究中几种观点的思考

对被子植物起源研究中的几种观点进行了讨论。(1)由于被子植物存在着一组共同的性状,它们不可能是从不同祖先起源的,而是有着共同的祖先。被子植物是一个单源起源的类群。现存被子植物分类系统是依据包括形态学(广义)、分子系统学、古植物学和植物地理学等的综合性状建立的,只能表示出现存类群的亲缘关系并且追溯到它们最近的祖先。人们现在还不可能建立一个包括全部已绝灭的类群和现代生存类群的谱系发生系统。因此,现存被子植物分类系统只能看作是“亲缘”系统。(2)分析了用于推测被子植物起源时间的分子、化石和地理分布证据。我们认为,要确定被子植物起源时间,植物化石是一类重要证据,但化石只能说是植物本身可保存部分和当时当地所提供的化石条件的综合反映,它们不可能就是植物类群或种的起源时间。人们还必须考虑到化石本身的演化历史。应用分子钟也是一种手段,但误差比较大。如果我们除了利用上述两种资料之外,根据植物类群的现代分布格局及其形成,把植物的演化同地球的历史和板块运动联系起来,以推断它们起源的时间,这无疑会增加其可信度。通过对56个种子植物不同演化水平的重要科属地理分布的研究结果,我们曾提出被子植物的起源时间可能要追溯到早侏罗世,甚至晚三叠世。(3)分析了基于分子证据所提出的被子植物基部类群——ANITA成员(包括无油樟科Amborellaceae、睡莲科Nymphaeaceae、八角目Illiciales、早落瓣科Trimeniaceae、木兰藤科Austrobaileyaceae)的性质,讨论了ANITA成员在现代几个被子植物分类系统中的系统位置的不同观点,评价了它们的形态学(广义)性状。指出ANITA的成员由于包含大量的祖征,是属于原始的类群。但由于它们的共有衍征很少,如花粉球形,说明它们在被子植物演化早期就分道扬镳了,沿着不同的传代线分化。因此ANITA是一个源于不同传代线的复合群。     

木兰藤科系统位置评述

木兰藤科(Austrobaileyaceae)含1属2种,是系统学上最孤立的科之一。其花粉类似于最古老的被子植物化石之一:晚白垩世的棒纹粉。最新的分子系统发育研究结果表明,木兰藤科是现存被子植物的基部类群之一,其对于被子植物的起源与早期进化的研究具有重要价值。被子植物(有花植物)的起源和辐射一直是植物学家关注的热点。有关木兰藤科的系统位置一直存在争议。本文对该科系统位置的研究历史与现状进行评述。     

浅谈被子植物的起源问题

被子植物的起源问题是个十分重要的问题。在现代被子植物中,哪些是原始类群?被子植物的祖先又是谁?这都直接关系着它的系统演化的内容和方向。因此,长期以来,一直为人们所重视。被子植物的演化时间久远,现存种类异常繁多,再加上原始类型早已绝灭,化石的发掘寥寥无几,这些,都给被子植物起源问题的解决,带来了很大困难。早在1879年,法国植物学家裕苏(A.L.Jussieu)就曾提出过关于被子植物起源的观点,但直到现在,所有关于被子植物     

十字中华果：来自远古的芬芳

开花的被子植物的起源和早期演化问题一直困扰着古生物学家,达尔文当年就因未能解决这一难题而称其为"讨厌之谜"。近日,中国和丹麦古植物学家联合发表了对十字中华果的研究成果,使之成为目前最无争议的中国早期被子植物化石。     

中国植物区系中的特有性及其起源和分化

对中国植物区系中的239个特有属,分属67个科,进行了分析研究,列出了这些特有属在种子植物各个科的分布,现代地理分布范围。结果表明含特有属在10个以上的有5个科即Gesneriaceae,Compositae,Labiatae,Cruiciferae,Umbelliferae;其中以Gesneriaceae居榜首(27属),Compositae位居第二(20属),Labiatae有12属,居第三。含2属的科有15个,含1属的科有30个;其中Ginkgaceae,Davidiaceae,Eucommiaceae,Acanthochlamydaceae组成了中国植物区系最具古老性、特有性和代表性的4个单型科。在此基础上,从特有属在被子植物八纲系统各个纲的分布特点,以及在各个科组成和系统关系及已有地质、化石历史和系统学,形态,分子证据论述了这些特有属的起源、系统关系及在植物地理上的关系。在裸子植物中,特有属最为丰富,几乎皆是地质历史上北极-第三纪成分的残遗,起源时间较早,可追溯到白垩纪或更早。被子植物中,中国特有属存在于八纲被子植物的所有纲中,几乎在现代被子植物各个演化阶段均有古老残遗的特有类群存在,同时也不乏新特有类群尤其是在演化的高级阶段的类群。从起源上看,被子植物的古特有属主要发生于晚白垩纪和早第三纪,地质历史上大都占有广阔的分布区;新特有属多发生在新第三纪以后。其源头主要是北极第三纪、古热带第三纪(冈瓦纳第三纪)和古地中海第三纪的奇妙结合,不少类群是就地起源的;特有性是在第三纪中晚期以后北半球气候变迁,迁移途径(如北大西洋陆桥和白令陆桥)中断后形成的,这一时期是我国特有属形成发展的起始标志。     

中国三叠纪海生爬行动物化石研究的回顾与进展

中国三叠纪海生爬行动物化石研究始于20世纪50年代,近10年来取得了重要的进展。此类化石在华南分布广泛,已见于多个省区的十余处地点,涉及自下三叠统奥伦尼克阶至上三叠统诺利阶的至少7个层位,并显示出由东向西产出层位逐渐升高的趋势。我国的三叠纪海生爬行动物化石门类齐全,属种丰富,已知类群包括鱼龙类、海龙类、檐齿龙类、始鳍龙类、原龙类、初龙类和湖北鳄类,显示出典型的西特提斯动物群特征,同时也体现了与东太平洋动物群的某些联系,以及一定的地方色彩。这些化石为研究三叠纪海生爬行动物各个类群的起源、演化和绝灭以及海洋环境的变迁提供了新的材料。     

壳斗科的地质历史及其系统学和植物地理学意义

在收集整理现有壳斗科化石资料的基础上,讨论了壳斗科及其各属的起源时间、地史分布和地史 演替过程以及这些化石资料在系统学和植物地理学上的意义。白垩纪尚无壳斗科可靠的大化石记录, 微化石需要进一步研究才能确定亲缘关系以及古新世壳斗科已经分化出两个类群。从以上这些事实推 论壳斗科起源于白垩纪晚期,而壳斗科现代各属出现的时间应不晚于古新世。最早发现的壳斗科化石和现代栗亚科和水青冈亚科在形态结构上非常相似,这一事实表明,壳斗科分为两个亚科的观点更接近客观事实。在水青冈亚科中,三棱栎类的化石最早出现;在栎属中,青冈亚属更接近祖先类群;在地史中全缘栎类较具齿栎类出现早,粗齿的落叶栎类出现最晚。三棱栎属、栲属和石栎属的化石在老第三纪出现于北美和欧洲的事实说明,北美、欧洲和东亚在老第三纪时有一个相通的壳斗科植物区系。南美的三棱栎是通过北美进入南美的。中国横断山、欧洲地中海沿岸和北美西北部有一类形态特征相似、亲缘关系相近的硬叶栎类,它们之间有相同的地质演替历史,它们现代分布边界可能就是古地中海的边界。美洲的栎类有两个来源,常绿硬叶栎类是通过古地中海沿岸而经北美-欧洲陆桥到达的,落叶栎类则是在中新世以后通过白令海峡到达的。     

蛾蛉类昆虫化石研究进展

蛾蛉类昆虫是脉翅目中化石记录最完整的的类群之一,现生类群蛾蛉、美蛉和山蛉统称为蛾蛉科,但是现生类群与化石类群分类标准的不一致性,为蛾蛉类昆虫化石研究带来较大的困难。本文统计了世界已发现的蛾蛉类昆虫化石属种名录,介绍了蛾蛉类昆虫化石研究历史、地质年代及地理分布、系统发育研究进程,并提出了现今有待解决的问题以及对未来研究的展望。     

中国中生代昆虫化石研究新进展

回顾了1990年以来中国中生代昆虫化石研究的新进展,简述了我国学者在古昆虫分类学、昆虫内部形态学、昆虫系统学、古生态学、昆虫生物地层学、昆虫区系的历史演变、生物古地理学、昆虫与植物的关系等8个方面取得的突出贡献,并给出了我国发现的世界最低层位昆虫科级类群表。     

A perfect flower from the Jurassic of China

Flower, enclosed ovule and tetrasporangiate anther are three major characters distinguishing angiosperms from other seed plants. Morphologically, typical flowers are characterised by an organisation with gynoecium and androecium surrounded by corolla and calyx. Theoretically, flowers are derived from their counterparts in ancient ancestral gymnosperms. However, as for when, how and from which groups, there is no consensus among botanists yet. Although angiosperm-like pollen and angiosperms have been claimed in the Triassic and Jurassic, typical flowers with the aforesaid three key characters are still missing in the pre-Cretaceous age, making many interpretations of flower evolution tentative. Thus searching for flower in the pre-Cretaceous has been a tantalising task for palaeobotanists for a long time. Here, we report a typical flower, Euanthus paniigen. et sp. nov., from the Middle–Late Jurassic of Liaoning, China. Euanthus has sepals, petals, androecium with tetrasporangiate dithecate anthers and gynoecium with enclosed ovules, organised just like in perfect flowers of extant angiosperms. The discovery of Euanthus implies that typical angiosperm flowers have already been in place in the Jurassic, and provides a new insight unavailable otherwise for the evolution of flowers.     

The identification of fossil angiosperm pollen and its bearing on the time and place of the origin of angiosperms

Studies in the 1970's reporting the occurrence of fossil pollen types in the Cretaceous, coupled with surveys of extant pollen morphology of primitive flowering plants, laid the foundation for proposing a Lower Cretaceous origin of angiosperms. Over the last 30 years, morphological, ultrastructural, and ontogenetic studies of both extant and fossil pollen have provided an array of new characters, as well as greater resolution in defining character polarities. Moreover, a range of fossil pollen types exhibiting angiosperm characters occur in low frequency within Triassic and Jurassic sediments. The pollen data provide evidence of a pre-Cretaceous origin of angiosperms. Speciation and extinction rates were likely equal during the Triassic and Jurassic, resulting in the paucity of angiosperm pollen types from different geographic areas in the Atlantic – South American/African rift zone. It was not until the Lower Cretaceous that origination rates exceed extinction rates, resulting in the subsequent diversification of angiosperms and the origin of the eudicots.     

Time flies, a new molecular time-scale for brachyceran fly evolution without a clock

The insect order Diptera, the true flies, contains one of the four largest Mesozoic insect radiations within its suborder Brachycera. Estimates of phylogenetic relationships and divergence dates among the major brachyceran lineages have been problematic or vague because of a lack of consistent evidence and the rarity of well-preserved fossils. Here, we combine new evidence from nucleotide sequence data, morphological reinterpretations, and fossils to improve estimates of brachyceran evolutionary relationships and ages. The 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene was sequenced for a broad diversity of taxa, and the data were combined with recently published morphological scorings for a parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis. The phylogenetic topology inferred from the combined 28S rDNA and morphology data set supports brachyceran monophyly and the monophyly of the four major brachyceran infraorders and suggests relationships largely consistent with previous classifications. Weak support was found for a basal brachyceran clade comprising the infraorders Stratiomyomorpha (soldier flies and relatives), Xylophagomorpha (xylophagid flies), and Tabanomorpha (horse flies, snipe flies, and relatives). This topology and similar alternative arrangements were used to obtain Bayesian estimates of divergence times, both with and without the assumption of a constant evolutionary rate. The estimated times were relatively robust to the choice of prior distributions. Divergence times based on the 28S rDNA and several fossil constraints indicate that the Brachycera originated in the late Triassic or earliest Mesozoic and that all major lower brachyceran fly lineages had near contemporaneous origins in the mid-Jurassic prior to the origin of flowering plants (angiosperms). This study provides increased resolution of brachyceran phylogeny, and our revised estimates of fly ages should improve the temporal context of evolutionary inferences and genomic comparisons between fly model organisms.     

Diversity in obscurity: fossil flowers and the early history of angiosperms

In the second half of the nineteenth century, pioneering discoveries of rich assemblages of fossil plants from the Cretaceous resulted in considerable interest in the first appearance of angiosperms in the geological record. Darwin''s famous comment, which labelled the ‘rapid development’ of angiosperms an ‘abominable mystery’, dates from this time. Darwin and his contemporaries were puzzled by the relatively late, seemingly sudden and geographically widespread appearance of modern-looking angiosperms in Late Cretaceous floras. Today, the early diversification of angiosperms seems much less ‘rapid’. Angiosperms were clearly present in the Early Cretaceous, 20–30 Myr before they attained the level of ecological dominance reflected in some mid-Cretaceous floras, and angiosperm leaves and pollen show a distinct pattern of steadily increasing diversity and complexity through this interval. Early angiosperm fossil flowers show a similar orderly diversification and also provide detailed insights into the changing reproductive biology and phylogenetic diversity of angiosperms from the Early Cretaceous. In addition, newly discovered fossil flowers indicate considerable, previously unrecognized, cryptic diversity among the earliest angiosperms known from the fossil record. Lineages that today have an herbaceous or shrubby habit were well represented. Monocotyledons, which have previously been difficult to recognize among assemblages of early fossil angiosperms, were also diverse and prominent in many Early Cretaceous ecosystems.     

The meaning of Darwin's 'abominable mystery'

Charles Darwin's "abominable mystery" has come to symbolize just about all aspects of the origin and early evolution of flowering plants. Yet, there has never been an analysis of precisely what Darwin thought was so abominably mysterious. Here I explicate Darwin's thoughts and frustrations with the fossil record of flowering plants as revealed in correspondence with Joseph Hooker, Gaston de Saporta, and Oswald Heer between 1875 and 1881. I also examine the essay by John Ball that prompted Darwin to write his "abominable mystery" letter to Hooker in July of 1879. Contrary to what is generally believed, Darwin's abominable mystery has little if anything to do with the fossil prehistory of angiosperms, identification of the closest relatives of flowering plants, questions of the homologies (and character transformations) of defining features of flowering plants, or the phylogeny of flowering plants themselves. Darwin's abominable mystery and his abiding interest in the radiation of angiosperms were never driven primarily by a need to understand the literal text of the evolutionary history of flowering plants. Rather, Darwin was deeply bothered by what he perceived to be an abrupt origin and highly accelerated rate of diversification of flowering plants in the mid-Cretaceous. This led Darwin to create speculative arguments for a long, gradual, and undiscovered pre-Cretaceous history of flowering plants on a lost island or continent. Darwin also took refuge in the possibility that a rapid diversification of flowering plants in the mid-Cretaceous might, if real, have a biological explanation involving coevolutionary interactions between pollinating insects and angiosperms. Nevertheless, although generations of plant biologists have seized upon Darwin's abominable mystery as a metaphor for their struggle to understand angiosperm history, the evidence strongly suggests that the abominable mystery is not about angiosperms per se. On the contrary, Darwin's abominable mystery is about his abhorrence that evolution could be both rapid and potentially even saltational. Throughout the last years of his life, it just so happens that flowering plants, among all groups of organisms, presented Darwin with the most extreme exception to his strongly held notion natura non facit saltum, nature does not make a leap.     

Yuhania: a unique angiosperm from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China

Despite increasing claims of pre-Cretaceous angiosperms, whether there really are angiosperms in the Jurassic is apparently still an open question for many people before further evidence is available. This question can only be answered by studying more Jurassic plant fossils. Here we report a fossil angiosperm, Yuhania daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov, from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. The plant includes connected stem, leaves, flowers, aggregate fruits, fruitlets, and seeds within fruitlets. The leaves are helically arranged along the curving stem, linear in shape, with 5–6 parallel veins. The aggregate fruit is pedicellate, composed of over 20 carpels/fruitlets helically arranged. Each fruitlet encloses a seed. The reproductive organs in various stages are found in the same plant, allowing us to understand the development of Yuhania. The occurrence of Yuhania in the Middle Jurassic re-confirms the Jurassic history for angiosperms that has been suggested by other independent research and adds to the on-going study on the early evolution of angiosperms.     

Cretaceous diversification of angiosperms in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula

The classic leaf fossil floras from the Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, which were first described more than one hundred years ago, have played an important role in the development of ideas on the early evolution of angiosperms. Insights into the nature of vegetational change in the Lusitanian Basin through the Cretaceous have also come from studies of fossil pollen and spores, but the discovery of a series of mesofossil floras containing well-preserved angiosperm reproductive structures has provided a new basis for understanding the systematic relationships and biology of angiosperms at several stratigraphic levels through the Cretaceous. In the earliest mesofossil floras from the Torres Vedras locality, which are of probable Late Barremian-Early Aptian age, angiosperms are surprisingly diverse with about 50 different taxa. In slightly later mesofossil floras, which are of probable Late Aptian-Early Albian age, the diversity of angiosperms is still more substantial with more than hundred different kinds of angiosperm reproductive structures recognized from the Famalicão locality alone. However, this early diversity is largely among angiosperm lineages that produced monoaperturate pollen (e.g., Chloranthaceae, Nymphaeales) and early diverging monocots (Alismatales). Eudicots are rare in these Early Cretaceous mesofossil floras, but already by the Late Cenomanian the vegetation of the western Iberian Peninsula is dominated by angiosperms belonging to various groups of core eudicots. The Normapolles complex is a particularly conspicuous element in both mesofossil floras and in palynological assemblages. In the Late Cretaceous mesofossil floras from Esgueira and Mira, which are of Campanian-Maastrichtian age, core eudicots are also floristically dominant and flowers show great organisational similarity to fossil flowers from other Late Cretaceous floras described from other localities in Asia, Europe and North America.     

A whole-plant monocot from the Lower Cretaceous

The Yixian Formation (the Lower Cretaceous) of China is world famous for its fossils of early angiosperms. Despite their great diversity, few of these fossils are preserved as whole plants, making our understanding of early angiosperms incomplete. Here, we report a fossil angiosperm, Sinoherba ningchengensis n. gen. n. sp. (Sinoherbaceae n. fam.), from the Yixian Formation of China. The fossil is of a whole plant, including physically connected root with fibrous rootlets, a stem with branches and nodes, leaves with parallel-reticulate veins, and a panicle of female flowers with an ovary surrounded by perianth. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses reveal that Sinoherba is an herbaceous monocot. This fossil underscores the great diversity of angiosperms in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation and an earlier, pre-Cretaceous origin of angiosperms.     

中国东北晚侏罗世短角亚目化石一新属二新种(双翅目:独须虻科)(英语)

本文记述短角亚目1新属Alleremonomus,2新种:Alleremonomus xingi sp.nov,Alleremonomusliaoningensis sp.nov,其分类位置归于双翅目、短角亚目、独须虻科(Eremochaetidae).化石采自辽宁北票晚侏罗世沉积物中.对独须虻科的化石记录作了简要的回顾.