A new species of Nelumbo from South China and its palaeoecological implications

A new species of Nelumbo Adanson is described from the Eocene of the Changchang Basin, Hainan Island, South China. This is the first comprehensive report on a fossil Nelumbo species from the Eocene of the Changchang Basin, Hainan Island. The co-occurrence of fruits, tubers, rhizomes with numerous adventitious roots, leaves, and receptacles indicates that the plants grew where they are preserved. These specimens, combined with palynological assemblage and other macrofossils, indicate a tropical or subtropical humid climate in the Changchang Basin from the late early Eocene to early late Eocene.     

First fossil record of the genus Nageia (Podocarpaceae) in south China and its phytogeographic implications

The first fossil record of the genus Nageia Gaertner from the Tertiary of southern China is reported. Nageia hainanensis sp. nov. is described from the Eocene Changchang Formation of Hainan Island. The extant species of Nageia are widely distributed in southeastern Asia, from northeastern India to southeastern China and southern Japan, and southward through Indochina to the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea. The fossil evidence of Nageia has been discovered from the Lower Cretaceous of the Far East of Russia and Japan. The distribution of both modern and fossil species of Nageia indicates that this genus could have originated in the northeastern part of Asia in the Early Cretaceous and spread to south China at least in the Eocene. Discovery of Nageia fossil record in south China provides important evidence for the geological and phytogeographic history of the genus.     

Fossil pinnae,sporangia, and spores of Osmunda from the Eocene of South China and their implications for biogeography and paleoecology

The genus Osmunda L. contains approximately 10 extant species widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions, with the greatest concentration of species in East and Southeast Asia. Osmunda is characterized by dimorphic or commonly hemidimorphic fronds with dimorphic pinnae. Its geological history has been traced back to the Triassic. Most records of the genus are based on rhizomes and rarely on pinnae bearing sporangia and spores. Here, we describe fossil pinnae, sporangia, and spores of Osmunda lignitum (Giebel) Stur recovered from the middle Eocene of the Changchang Formation in the Changchang Basin, Hainan Island and the Youganwo Formation in the Maoming Basin, Guangdong, South China. The fossils closely resemble the extant Osmunda banksiifolia (C. Presl) Kuhn of the subgenus Plenasium on the basis of their morphological and anatomical structures. The present occurrence of O. lignitum indicates subg. Plenasium flourished and extended from the high latitude regions such as Northeast China to the low latitude areas of South China during the middle Eocene. Large numbers of specimens described here also indicate that Osmunda was the dominant understory fern element beneath mixed evergreen broad-leaf angiosperm and gymnosperm forests living in a warm and humid environment.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Altingioxylon hainanensis</Emphasis> sp. nov.: earliest fossil wood record of the family Altingiaceae in Eastern Asia and its implications for historical biogeography

A new species, Altingioxylon hainanensis, is described from the Eocene Changchang Formation of the Changchang Basin on Hainan Island, South China. It is the first record of a fossil wood assigned to Altingiaceae found in China, and the most ancient evidence of wood for this family in eastern Asia. The new species is similar to A. rhodoleioides, known since the Miocene in India and Java Island, and to Altingia hisauchii from the Miocene to Pliocene of Japan. The close resemblance between these species and Liquidambar sp., known from the Middle Miocene of western North America, provides additional evidence for the migration of their ancestors from Asia to North America across the Bering land bridge during the Miocene. Distinctions in ray sizes between the eastern Asian specimens and their contemporaries from Europe to Kazakhstan is suggested as a result of the divergence between the large eastern Asian clade and the North American–west Asian clade within Altingiaceae during the Eocene–Oligocene. The presence of crystals in ray cells may be considered an ancestral condition that persists in the eastern Asian lineages up to the extant Altingia and Semiliquidambar, but which was lost in other Altingiaceae in the course of evolution.     

A Miocene flora from the Toupi Formation in Jiangxi Province,southeastern China

Here we report a fossil flora from the Miocene Toupi Formation in Jiangxi Province, southeastern China, including megafossil genera Pinus, Podocarpus, Calocedrus, Cinnamomum, Quercus, Lithocarpus, Carya, Palaeocarya, Acer, and Yua. Among them, Yua jiangxiensis n. sp. is the first fossil record of the genus in Asia. A palynological analysis in this study reveals that the palyno-assemblage contains Selaginella, Pteris, Pinus, Picea, Quercus, Fagus, Carya, Ilex, and Rutaceae. Based on Integrated Plant Records (IPR) vegetation analysis, it is suggested that the fossil flora represents an evergreen broad-leaved forest, and the occurrence of tropical and subtropical Cinnamomum supports a warm and moist climate in the region during the middle Miocene.     

Biogeographical Evidences Help Revealing the Origin of Hainan Island

Both the continental or island origin of Hainan, and the Indo-Malaysian or East Asian affinity of its flora, are debatable. In this study, 196 families, 1283 genera and 3894 species of Hainan plants were recognized. Patterns of seed plant distribution were quantified at the generic and the family levels. The floras of Vietnam, and the adjacent Guangxi and Guangdong provinces of mainland China, were compared with Hainan. The results showed that the flora of Hainan Island is dominated by families and genera with tropical distributions. Among its floristic elements, tropical Asian distributions make up 23.85% of the total flora, while East Asian distributions contribute only 3.74%. There are only 7 genera and c. 10% of species endemic to Hainan Island. The Hainan flora has strong similarities to the flora of Vietnam at the family and the generic levels, and also to the flora of Guangxi, but less with the adjacent Guangdong province. The main conclusions are: Hainan’s flora is tropical in nature with a strongly tropical Asian affinity, and it has very low endemism at the generic and species levels, which implies a continental origin. We conjecture that Hainan Island could have been adjacent to northern Vietnam and the Guangxi at least in Eocene. This suggestion is supported by palaeobotanical, palaeomagnetic and volcanism studies.     

Diversity of Menispermaceae from the Paleocene and Eocene of South China

We present here the earliest known Asian fossil records of the Menispermaceae based on fossil fruits from Paleocene and Eocene localities in South China. A new genus and species, Paleoorbicarpum parvum sp. nov., and two new species of Stephania Loureiro, S. ornamenta sp. nov. and S. geniculata sp. nov., are recognized from Paleocene deposits of the Sanshui Basin, Guangdong, and a new occurrence of the widespread Eocene species Stephania auriformis (Hollick) Han & Manchester is recognized from the Maoming Basin, Guangdong. The Paleocene Stephania specimens described here represent the earliest fossil endocarp record of the Menispermaceae in eastern Asia. This discovery shows that the moonseed family had arrived in tropical and humid South China by at least the middle Paleocene, which provides important evidence for the origin and phytogeographic history of the family.     

Numerical taxonomy of Palaeocarya (Juglandaceae) from the Mangbang Formation of West Yunnan, China

Specimens of Palaeocarya (Juglandaceae) were collected from the upper Pliocene of western Yunnan Province, which is a new geographical and age range record of engelhardioid winged fruits in China. A numerical taxonomic investigation based on 14 morphological characters of fossil and extant specimens of engelhardioid winged fruits in China was conducted using multivariate methods. Phenetic clustering shows that there are four morphotypical groups which we assign to four species. Two groups are assigned to the previously described fossil species, Palaeocarya guangxiensis Li Hao-Min et Chen Yun-Fa, 2003 and Palaeocarya koreanica (Oishi) Manchester, 1987. Two new species are recognized, Palaeocarya yunnanensis and Palaeocarya longialata. These Neogene Engelhardieae fruits provide fossil data for understanding the origin and evolution of the Engelhardia species that now inhabit South China.     

海南岛第三纪沉积环境与古植物群落的多样性及其变迁

海南岛第三纪沉积类型及古植物群落复杂多样,早第三纪主要为河湖泊,湖泊相和湖沼相等沉积,晚期发生海侵,开始出现海陆交相沉积;古植物群落主要有：温带山地针叶林和落叶阔叶林,亚热带常绿和落叶阔叶林,晚晚开始出现红树林,总体属温暖湿珠亚热带气候,晚第三纪海侵加大,沉积为型为滨海相,滨海－浅海相,浅海相及深水广海相等海相沉积,在滨海地区红树林面积大大增加,盆地中心平原地上展为低地热带雨林,总体属炎热潮湿的热带气候,但在海南岛西部和西北部仍发育有山地雪松和云杉林,上新世时植被类型逐渐接近现今当地的面貌,深入研究本区第三纪古环境与古植物群落的变迁对海南岛现代生物多样性形成机制的研究具有重要意义。     

海南中部山区到东部沿海区域植物区系比较研究

海南岛地形中高周低,从中部山区到东部沿海平原地区,由于自然条件及历史上人类干扰程度的不同,因此植物区系组成发生了一定程度的变化。为探讨植物区系组成的变化与保护区的次生性、面积及海拔高度等因素的关系,该研究采用样方和样线调查法,对海南岛中偏东部会山保护区进行物种调查,并结合该团队以往调查的中部五指山原自然保护区(现属热带雨林国家公园)、东部非沿海的白石岭保护区和东北部沿海的铜鼓岭自然保护区的数据,对4个保护区的植物区系组成特点进行了比较分析。结果表明:(1)五指山、会山、白石岭、铜鼓岭保护区分别分布有1 893、1 415、634、913种野生种子植物,中部的2个保护区植物种类明显高于其他2个保护区。(2)保护区之间的物种相似性与海拔差和面积差呈显著负相关(P<0.05)。(3)4个保护区均为热带成分占主导地位,在属水平上五指山热带亚洲分布最多,其他3个保护区泛热带分布最多; 在种水平上均为热带亚洲分布最多且铜鼓岭占比最大。综上认为,从中部山区到东部沿海平原地区表现出次生性越大,海拔高度越低,生境类型越少,植物物种数越少; 同时,在属和种的水平上,呈现出热带成分增加,温带成分、中国特有分布和孑遗属、种均减少的特征。     

海南岛苔藓植物研究历史、现状与展望

综述了海南岛苔藓植物的研究历史和现状。目前海南岛已记录的苔藓植物共有87科227属806种,其中苔类33科71属366种,藓类51科152属436种,角苔类3科4属4种;苔藓植物的区系组成以热带亚洲成分为主,与香港、台湾地区的种属相似性高;对海南岛苔藓植物的研究集中在尖峰岭、霸王岭、吊罗山3个国家级自然保护区;叶附生苔是海南热带雨林主要的苔藓生态分布类型之一,共有7科23属123种;初步统计濒危苔藓植物有15种。今后应继续开展广泛和持续的物种多样性调查,从生态学、植物化学、分子生物学等领域进行研究,促进合理的开发利用和推动保护工作。     

Eocene–Oligocene paleoecology and the diatom genus Kisseleviella Sheshukova-Poretskaya from the Victoria Land Basin,Antarctica

The Cape Roberts Project (CRP) recovered a composite Eocene to lower Miocene stratigraphic sequence from the Victoria Land Basin, Antarctica, which includes four new species, described herein, of the biostratigraphically useful fossil marine diatom genus Kisseleviella. Specimens of this extinct genus occur predominantly in neritic sediments, which along with the chain-forming nature and morphological similarity to extant benthic genera (e.g. Cymatosira) suggest that Kisseleviella was tychopelagic. The species of Kisseleviella described here appear to be endemic to the Antarctic region with an ecological preference for nearshore environments. The polythermal, subpolar glacial regime invoked for the late Eocene–early Miocene may have acted as a significant driver of speciation events in Antarctic Kisseleviella. Phylogenetic analysis of fossil genera such as Kisseleviella allows the development of a neritic biostratigraphic zonation. New taxa formally proposed are: Kisseleviella tricoronata, Kisseleviella cicatricata, Kisseleviella gaster and Kisseleviella faballiforma.     

海南铜鼓岭与五指山种子植物属的比较研究

铜鼓岭位于海南省东北部,共有维管植物166科626属984种及变种。五指山位于海南岛中部山区,共有维管植物196科911属2146种及变种。前者共有单型科54科,单种属431属,分别占科和属总数的27.11%,68.74%;后者共有单型科35科,单种属496属,分别占科及属总数17.77%,54.5%。说明五指山物种组成比铜鼓岭的更丰富,但两个区系属内种系分化程度都较弱。区系分析表明:(1)铜鼓岭以泛热带分布占优势,热带亚洲分布次之,分别占该区非世界分布属总数的34.5%和17.8%;五指山以热带亚洲分布占优势,泛热带分布次之,分别占非世界分布属总数的37.5%和24.1%;两个区系热带性质强烈,但前者以泛热带分布为主,后者以热带亚洲成分为主。(2)铜鼓岭共有35种海南特有种,占海南536个海南特有种(变种)的6.53%;五指山共有284个海南特有种,五指山特有种16种,占海南特有种的52.99%,说明其在海南植物区系中比铜鼓岭更重要。     

台湾岛和海南岛兰科植物区系特征比较

为探明台湾岛和海南岛兰科( Orchidaceae)植物区系特征,在充分查阅相关资料的基础上,对2个岛屿兰科植物的物种组成、生活型和分布区类型进行分析,并对这2个岛屿与大陆陆地和周边国家兰科植物的分布特征进行比较和分析。结果表明：2个岛屿的兰科植物共有146属639种,其中,台湾岛有107属446种,海南岛有96属302种。2个岛屿树兰亚科( Subfam. Epidendroideae)的属和种比例均最高;原始的拟兰亚科( Subfam. Apostasioideae)在台湾岛无分布,而在海南岛分布有2属4种。从属和种的数量看,含1种和2~5种的属比例较高,分别占台湾岛兰科植物总属数的43.9%和36.4%,占海南岛兰科植物总属数的45.8%和40.6%;且包含种数多的属的比例较低。从生活型看,2个岛屿地生兰和附生兰的比例较高,分别占台湾岛兰科植物总种数的52.7%和34.3%,占海南岛兰科植物总种数的37.1%和55.3%。从分布区类型看,台湾岛和海南岛的兰科植物分别可划分为11和10个分布区类型,且均以热带亚洲至热带大洋洲分布型属和种的比例最高,热带亚洲分布型属和种的比例也较高。从热带成分与温带成分的数量比(R/T)看,台湾岛和海南岛兰科植物属的R/T值分别为3.6和3.3,种的R/T值分别为10.9和11.9,说明2个岛屿的兰科植物均以热带成分为主,台湾岛还包含一定的温带成分。从共有属和共有种看,2个岛屿与大陆陆地的兰科植物共有属均约占各自兰科植物总属数的90.7%,其中,三地共有属有66属;台湾岛与大陆陆地的兰科植物共有种比例较低(46.2%),而海南岛与大陆陆地的兰科植物共有种比例较高(74.9%),说明2个岛屿与大陆陆地兰科植物属的同源性较高,且海南岛兰科植物的大陆性特征更明显。与周边国家相比,2个岛屿与越南的兰科植物共有种比例较高,分别占台湾岛和海南岛兰科植物总种数的33.9%和75.2%。综合分析结果显示：台湾岛和海南岛的兰科植物种类丰富,生活型齐全,且具有明显的热带性质,但台湾岛的兰科植物还表现出一定的温带性质;2个岛屿与大陆陆地兰科植物的亲缘关系较近,但台湾岛兰科植物的特有性更明显。     

A new seabird (Aves, cf. Phaethontidae) from the Lower Eocene phosphates of Morocco

A proximal part of humerus from the basal Ypresian (lowermost Eocene) of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, is described as a new genus and species tentatively assigned to the Phaethontidae (tropicbirds). This fossil possibly represents the oldest record of the Phaethontidae and markedly differs from Lithoptila, a contemporaneous Prophaethontidae from the same locality. This new taxon lived in a tropical climate and was probably an efficient flier with pelagic habits, like extant tropicbirds of the genus Phaethon.     

Fruits of icacinaceae (tribe iodeae) from the late paleocene of Western north america

The Icacinaceae occur pantropically today, but are well represented by fossil fruits of the warm Early Middle Eocene, when tropical plants that currently occupy low latitudes were more widely distributed in higher latitudes. Members of this family are first known in the Late Cretaceous; however, fossil fruits of tribe Iodeae are quite rare before the Eocene. In this paper we describe the first formally recognized Late Paleocene icacinaceous taxa from western North America. We name two new species of Icacinicarya based on anatomically preserved fruits and establish a new genus, Icacinicaryites, for impressions with a strong similarity to Icacinicarya that lack anatomical preservation. These new records from the Almont/Beicegel Creek flora in North Dakota and several localities in Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana complement records known from the Early Eocene of England and document an increased diversity of Iodeae and related forms in the Paleogene of western North America.     

Endemic Seed Plant Species from Hainan Island: A Checklist

Global conservation of plant biodiversity on tropical islands is a major priority, as approximately one third of all endangered plant species are insular endemics. Checklists can be an important first step in determining conservation priorities on islands. Hainan, the largest island in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, and therefore an international focus for conservation, has the most extensive and best preserved tropical forests in China. In this study we enumerate the endemic seed plants of Hainan Island. The checklist was prepared by consulting: (1) several bibliographic/taxonomic data base resources, (2) relevant taxonomic treatments and floras, and (3) plant taxonomists who are actively working with Chinese plants. The checklist also contains information concerning conservation status, the occurrence of Hainan endemics in four protected areas on the island, and available molecular phylogenies. An additional checklist of the species that were until recently thought to be endemic to Hainan, but are no longer considered to be, is also presented. In a separate paper in this issue of Botanical Review the patterns of endemism on Hainan Island are discussed.     

Elatides sandaolingensis n. sp. (Cupressaceae sensu lato) — A new fossil conifer with cones from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang,northwestern China

Here we describe a new conifer fossil, Elatides sandaolingensis Z.X. Wang and B.N. Sun n. sp., from the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation in the Turpan-Hami Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. The materials consist of compressions represented by well-preserved leafy shoots, pollen cones, and seed cone. Leaves are characterized by long triangular shapes, with straight apex and entire margins, and two stomatal bands on the abaxial surface. Pollen cones are terminally disposed on the ultimate leafy shoots, borne singly or in clusters. Pollen sacs are long-oval shaped, with three pollen sacs fused together. Pollen grains are spherical and have small germinal papilla and few wrinkles. The seed cone is oblong, with more than 35 helically arranged bract-scale complexes, which are characterized by long-oval shape and triangular apex. Compared with the extant nine genera of Taxodiaceous Cupressaceae in the morphology of seed cone and pollen cones, the present fossil consistently shares many characteristics with the extant genus Cunninghamia, but differs in other aspects. After being compared with the reported fossil records of the fossil plants, the current species is found to be different from any known species; thus, the present fossil is referred to as a new species of Elatides. From the similarity between the present fossil and Cunninghamia, it can be inferred that there may be a genetic relationship between these two genera. Additionally, the new species has thin cuticles and slightly sunken stomata, which can provide evidence indicating that the climate of the Turpan-Hami Basin in Middle Jurassic might have been warm and humid. By studying the geological history and geographical distribution of Elatides, it can be inferred that this genus may have originated in Switzerland, and it was migrated from Xinjiang to North and South China through the Ural Mountains.     

论中国海南岛的生物地理起源

当前海南岛植物区系以热带分布的科和属占绝对优势,在属的地理成分上热带亚洲分布属的比例最高,显示出它是一个热带性质的植物区系,并具有热带亚洲亲缘。在海南植物区系中,仅有7个特有属和约10%的特有种,极低的特有性显示了它具有明显的大陆起源特征。通过比较研究发现,中国海南植物区系与越南植物区系关系最密切,其次是广西植物区系。在哺乳动物上,也显示出与植物区系类似的生物地理格局,中国海南与越南的联系最密切。古植物学研究揭示海南岛在始新世时曾具有亚热带性质的植物区系和亚热带气候,处在比现今更北的位置。古地磁学研究揭示在中生代时期海南岛连接着越南和中国广西,处于比现在高5~6个纬度的位置。综合各方面的研究,我们从生物地理的角度提出中国海南岛在始新世时曾连接着越南和中国广西,后来发生了向东南移动和旋转,最终到达现在的位置。     

History and biogeography of the mangrove ecosystem,based on a critical reassessment of the paleontological record

The geological record of mangrove plants is based on comparablemorphological characteristics of pollen, fruits and wood, of fossil andmodern species. But this record relies on the assumption that the ecologicaland habitat preferences of ancestral taxa have remained similar throughages. A reexamination of fossil evidence of Avicennia, Pelliciera,Sonneratia, Rhizophora, Bruguiera, Ceriops, etc.reveals that the modern mangrove flora was pantropic by the Eocene, andappears to have originated during Paleocene times. Earlier Paleozoic andMesozoic candidates for a mangrove ecology lack conclusive evidence oftheir exclusive association with tidal environments. It is therefore clear thatcontinental drift had a limited role in the dispersal and development ofmodern mangrove floras. The Eocene/Oligocene boundary crisis appears toherald a beginning of the biogeographic split between the current-dayeastern and western provinces of mangrove plants. But, while the climaticorigins of this major disjunction is not clearly understood, our reassessmentof Tertiary paleoclimates suggests that the major cooling events of themiddle Paleocene, the end of the Eocene and the middle Pliocene were themost likely influences on the evolution of mangrove floras. The associatedinvertebrates, especially molluscs, further support our assertion that amodern mangrove ecosystem was established only during the earliestEocene times. We summarize our interpretation in a set of 9 palinspasticmaps of fossil mangrove genera through their evolution ending with thecurrent, bipartite distribution of present day taxa.