摘要
In contrast to woody habit with secondary growth, truthful herbaceous habit lacking secondary growth is restricted to angiosperms among seed plants. Although angiosperms might have occurred as early as in the Triassic and herbaceous habit theoretically may have been well adopted by pioneer angiosperms, pre-Cretaceous herbs are missing hitherto, leaving the origin of herbs and evolution of herbaceous angiosperms mysterious. Here we report Juraherba bodae gen. et sp. nov, a whole plant herbaceous angiosperm, from the Middle Jurassic （〉164 Ma） at Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China, a fossil Lagerst^itten that is worldwide famous for various fossil finds. The angiospermous affinity of Juraherba is ensured by its enclosed ovules/seeds. The plant is small but complete, with physically connected hairy root, stem, leaves, and fructifications. The Middle Jurassic age recommends Juraherba as the earliest record of herbaceous seed plants, demanding a refresh look at the evolutionary history of angiosperms.
In contrast to woody habit with secondary growth, truthful herbaceous habit lacking secondary growth is restricted to angiosperms among seed plants. Although angiosperms might have occurred as early as in the Triassic and herbaceous habit theoretically may have been well adopted by pioneer angiosperms, pre-Cretaceous herbs are missing hitherto, leaving the origin of herbs and evolution of herbaceous angiosperms mysterious. Here we report Juraherba bodae gen. et sp. nov, a whole plant herbaceous angiosperm, from the Middle Jurassic （〉164 Ma） at Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China, a fossil Lagerst^itten that is worldwide famous for various fossil finds. The angiospermous affinity of Juraherba is ensured by its enclosed ovules/seeds. The plant is small but complete, with physically connected hairy root, stem, leaves, and fructifications. The Middle Jurassic age recommends Juraherba as the earliest record of herbaceous seed plants, demanding a refresh look at the evolutionary history of angiosperms.
基金
supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program 2012CB821901)
Team Program of Scientific Innovation and Interdisciplinary Cooperation,Chinese Academy of Sciences(2013-2015)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (91114201,41172006) awarded to X.W
State Forestry Administration of China(No.2005-122)
Science and Technology Project of Guangdong(No. 2011B060400011)
Special Funds for Environmental Projects of Shenzhen(No.2013-02) awarded to Z.J.L.
