Comparative floral biology of Rhynchospora ciliata (Vahl) Kukenth and R. pubera (Vahl) Boeckeler (Cyperaceae): the role of white involucral bracts in attracting pollinating insects

Although Cyperaceae are considered anemophilous, some species exhibit features that are attractive to pollinators, such as the white UV‐reflecting involucral bracts of Rhynchospora ciliata. But how effective are these conspicuous adaptations? To address this question, we tested the hypothesis that species such as R. ciliata are visited by greater numbers of pollinating insects than similar species with green involucral bracts, such as R. pubera. We compared the floral biology of both species and the number of visits to sympatric populations of each species, associating them with the availability of pollen and the pollination system. We verified that species with white involucral bracts are preferred, because there were more visits to R. ciliata in the first 2 h the flowers were open. The peak visitation in R. pubera was 2 h after the flowers opened, when the pollen of R. ciliata was exhausted. Although the involucral bracts of R. pubera are green, the spikelet scales and anthers are white and reflect ultraviolet light. Overall, flowers of R. pubera exhibit fewer white or reflective surfaces and are probably less conspicuous to a bee than those of R. ciliata. It is possible that R. pubera is a second option for visitors after the first 2 h of anthesis. The two different peaks in visitation minimize interspecific competition for pollinators, suggesting that R. ciliata and R. pubera together could attract more generalist pollinators and, instead of competing, facilitate the pollination of both species. Although R. pubera is autogamous and self‐compatible, both wind and insects are important to its reproductive success.     

Moonlight pollination in the gymnosperm Ephedra (Gnetales)

Most gymnosperms are wind-pollinated, but some are insect-pollinated, and in Ephedra (Gnetales), both wind pollination and insect pollination occur. Little is, however, known about mechanisms and evolution of pollination syndromes in gymnosperms. Based on four seasons of field studies, we show an unexpected correlation between pollination and the phases of the moon in one of our studied species, Ephedra foeminea. It is pollinated by dipterans and lepidopterans, most of them nocturnal, and its pollination coincides with the full moon of July. This may be adaptive in two ways. Many nocturnal insects navigate using the moon. Further, the spectacular reflection of the full-moonlight in the pollination drops is the only apparent means of nocturnal attraction of insects in these plants. In the sympatric but wind-pollinated Ephedra distachya, pollination is not correlated to the full moon but occurs at approximately the same dates every year. The lunar correlation has probably been lost in most species of Ephedra subsequent an evolutionary shift to wind pollination in the clade. When the services of insects are no longer needed for successful pollination, the adaptive value of correlating pollination with the full moon is lost, and conceivably also the trait.     

Choice of food resource by bees and ants (Hymenoptera: Apoidea,Formicidae) on coconut tree inflorescences (Cocos nucifera,Arecaceae)

Coconut trees are mostly anemophilous; however, because bees and ants forage on coconut tree inflorescences for floral food, entomophilous pollination can also occur. The aim of this study was to determine the food resource preference of bees and ants while they collect pollen, nectar and, for ants, occasionally prey on coconut tree inflorescences, as well as to evaluate their impact on self-pollination. The number of ant visits to first female and then male flowers is significantly higher than that of bees. For Apis mellifera (L.) and Pseudomyrmex gracilis (Fabricius) 14% of the sequences were favorable to direct self-pollination. The probability of visits for all of the sequences was similar for both bees and ants and there was no difference in resource choice. For these reasons, neither can be considered a more effective pollinator of the coconut tree.     

Wind or insect pollination? Ambophily in a subtropical gymnosperm Gnetum parvifolium (Gnetales)

Gnetum (Gnetales) has long been regarded as insect pollinated due to its range‐restricted distribution in tropical rain forests, where wind pollination is supposed to be detrimental. However, ubiquitous pollen limitation in the tropics might cause transition to anemophily, or even ambophily for reproductive assurance, especially for gymnosperms such as Gnetum, which exhibit various anemophilous syndromes, including absence of petals, greenish color of strobili, dioecy and uniovulate flowers. Pollination treatments applied to Gnetum parvifolium in southern China revealed this rare and endangered species to be pollen limited and incapable of apomixis. Pollen grains of G. parvifolium did not adhere to each other and could be trapped by interception traps near the male and female strobili. Seed set in the netted treatment (anemophily) was significantly higher than in the bagged treatment (apomixis) but lower than open pollination (anemophily and entomophily), indicating that both wind and biotic pollination contributed to seed production of G. parvifolium. The occurrence of ambophily in Gnetum and the prevalence of anemophily in Ehpedra and Welwitschia suggest that wind may also play a role in the pollination of the ancient Gnetales.     

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.     

Normapolles flowers of fagalean affinity from the Late Cretaceous of Portugal

 Exquisitely preserved, charcoalified fossil flowers with in situ pollen of the Normapolles-type from the Late Cretaceous of Portugal are described and a new genus and species of Fagales, Normanthus miraensis, are established. Floral organization and structure of floral organs were studied with scanning electron microscopy and microtome sections. Flowers are actinomorphic, epigynous, and pentamerous; the perianth is simple; stamens alternate with tepals; pollen is oblate and vestibulate; the exine is thick and the tectum is scabrate-microgranulate; the gynoecium is bicarpellate and unilocular; the fruits are probably one-seeded. Comparisons with extant taxa demonstrate that N. miraensis shares many similarities with Fagales and in particular with Betulaceae. However, it is not identical with any extant taxon and cannot be included in any extant family. The combination of characters found in the fossil flowers is congruent with wind-pollination syndromes present in many extant angiosperms and clearly indicates wind-pollination of N. miraensis. Received June 13, 2000 Accepted September 28, 2000     

几种含笑属(木兰科)植物的花粉形态

含笑属（Ｍｉｃｈｅｌｉａ）４种花粉光镜下形态相似。ＳＥＭ下观察,黄兰（Ｍ．ｃｈａｍｐａｃａ）和金叶含笑（Ｍ．ｆｏｖｅｏｌａｔａ）表面雕纹为小穿孔,苦梓含笑（Ｍ．ｂａｌａｎｓａｅ）为小穴,野含笑（Ｍ．ｓｋｉｎｎｅｒ－ｉａｎａ）为细皱纹,较粗糙。ＴＥＮ下观察,４种花粉外壁均可分为覆盖层、柱状层和基层。其中黄兰的柱状层结构较原始,金叶含笑的较进化。花粉形态在一定程度上可反映类群的系统演化。     

几种含笑属(木兰科)植物的花粉形态

含笑属 ( Michelia) 4种花粉光镜下形态相似。SEM下观察 ,黄兰 ( M.champaca)和金叶含笑 ( M.foveolata)表面雕纹为小穿孔 ,苦梓含笑 ( M.balansae)为小穴 ,野含笑 ( M.skinner-iana)为细皱纹 ,较粗糙。 TEM下观察 ,4种花粉外壁均可分为覆盖层、柱状层和基层。其中黄兰的柱状层结构较原始 ,金叶含笑的较进化。花粉形态在一定程度上可反映类群的系统演化。     

须芒草族植物花粉形态的观察

在光学显微镜下和扫描电镜下对禾本科须芒草族（Ａｎｄｒｏｐｏｇｏｎｅａｅ）中分隶于８个亚族３４个属的３６种植物的花粉进行形态面容和比较研究。结果显示,本族植物花粉形态较为一致,花粉近形或扁球形,单萌发孔,孔,周围加厚,具盖,外壁表面散布有颗粒。这表明其是一个自然类群。总体来讲,芬烨大的演化分异,只是表面纹饰的和芬烨大小有一;定的差异。纹饰可分为三种类型粗糙型,不明显疠状突起才明显疠状突起型。花粉开矿     

小檗科的花粉演化

以APG III定义的基部真双子叶分支（Basal Eudicots）中毛茛目（Ranunculales）小檗科（Berberidaceae）为研究对象,选取4个DNA片段（rbcL、matK、trnLF和26S rDNA）,利用最大似然法构建分子系统树,结合已报道的花粉形态数据,分析了该科16个属的花粉形态。选择花粉分散单位、极性、形状、大小、萌发孔数目、萌发孔位置、外萌发孔形状、覆盖层上元素、覆盖层纹饰和外壁厚度共10个关键性状,采用简约法推断了该科花粉的祖征、共衍征和演化式样。研究表明：单粒、等极、近球形、中等大小是小檗科花粉的祖征。无极、多萌发孔和周面孔是小檗亚科（Berberidoideae）的共衍征,支持其为一个单系。三萌发孔分别为鬼臼亚科（Podophylloideae）、南天竹亚科（Nandinoideae）各自的共衍征;覆盖层上元素不存在是小檗亚科和南天竹亚科的共衍征,将它们与鬼臼亚科区分开来,同时也支持了小檗亚科和南天竹亚科之间的姐妹关系。此外,对一些属花粉形态的演化意义进行了讨论,提出一些特殊的花粉性状可以用来定义某些属,如Bongardia和兰山草属（Ranzania）。     

伤齿龙标本IVPPV10597分类学重新讨论

保存部分后肢的标本IVPPV 10597最初被描述为蒙吉蜥鸟龙(Saurornithoides mongoliensis)的幼年个体,但存在一些疑问.近年来有关伤齿龙科(Troodontidae)的研究,尤其是有关伤齿龙类分类学研究取得了重要进展,因此有必要对该标本的分类学重新进行评估.通过细致的形态比较和数值化的系统发育分析,确认相对于蒙古蜥鸟龙,V 10597更加接近于同域的谭氏临河猎龙(Linhevenator tani),指示其有可能代表谭氏临河猎龙的幼年个体.但V10597的许多后肢特征,包括许多涉及后肢骨骼间比例的特征,显示出与包括谭氏临河猎龙在内的其他伤齿龙类的明显区别.这些形态差异可能具有分类学意义,表明V 10597代表一个新种.通过骨组织学分析,确认该标本不可能代表谭氏临河猎龙或者其他大型伤齿龙类的幼年个体.基于已有的形态学和骨组织学信息,将V 10597定为一新属、新种,命名为柯瑞氏菲利猎龙(Philovenator curriei gen.et sp.nov.).这一发现增加了白垩纪晚期伤齿龙类的种群分异度和形态差异度.     

加拿大北极地区黄昏鸟化石

加拿大北极地区Ｂｙｌｏｔ岛晚白垩世陆相沉积中发现一黄昏鸟化石。这是首次在极地地区发现这类不会飞行的已绝灭的潜水鸟类,该地点也是白垩纪最晚期的黄昏鸟产地。新材料的形态构造与Ｈｅａｐｅｒｏｒｎｉｓ ｒｅｇａｌｉｓ比较接近,但它个体大,颈椎椎体后部特别向两侧扩展,椎体侧凹亦特别大而深等,具特化的性状,因而建一新属新种：Ｃａｎａｄａｇａ ａｒｃｔｉｃａ ｇｅｎ．ｅｔ．ｓｐ． ｎｏｖ．。     

柳江人头骨形态特征及柳江人演化的一些问题

为深入探讨柳江人化石形态特征的表现特点、进化程度及其与其年代数据的吻合性,本文对柳江、山顶洞、资阳、丽江等主要中国更新世晚期人类头骨化石及1 114例全新世以来不同地区现代中国人头骨进行了对比分析,结果发现:柳江人头骨绝大多数特征的出现情况位于现代中国人的变异范围,只有极个别特征与现代人不同;柳江人头骨具有的低眶等特征也可见于其他中国更新世晚期人类化石,说明柳江人化石上保留有少量常见于更新世晚期人类的原始特征,但与其他中国更新世晚期人类,尤其是山顶洞人头骨相比,柳江人显得要现代的多;柳江人与山顶洞人之间头骨形态特征的差异以体现头骨原始性及粗硕强壮程度上的差别居多,而个别特征差异或许与气候环境适应有关。我们认为:柳江人在形态进化上与现代中国人已经非常接近,他们之间的差别非常小;柳江人与山顶洞人头骨特征表现上的差异主要反映了他们之间在演化程度上的差异,同时也在一定程度上体现了各自的生存环境;现有的形态学证据不大可能为柳江人较早的时代提供支持。