Specimens of fossil wood preserved lignified in Pliocene brown coal and identified as Pinus armandii Francher come from an opencast coalmine at Longling in western Yunnan Province, China. Phytochemical investigation o...Specimens of fossil wood preserved lignified in Pliocene brown coal and identified as Pinus armandii Francher come from an opencast coalmine at Longling in western Yunnan Province, China. Phytochemical investigation of the fossil wood isolated using liquid column chromatography seven compounds （1-7） including a new fluorene derivative named 11,11-dimethyl-11H-benzo[b]fluorene. A further 28 volatiles were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. Spectroscopic investigation methods, including MS and 1D and 2D-NMR techniques elucidated the structure of the seven compounds. Two types of natural products, isopimara and stilbene commonly occuring in extant and Pliocene fossil P. armandii indicate phytochemical fidelity during burial under certain circumstances in sediments. Discovery of stilbenes that can inhibit the activities of wood-destroying fungi in the Pliocene P. armandii prompts the assumption that the chemical preservation of this Pliocene fossil wood of P. armandii in brown coal might contribute to the presence of inner natural inhibitors against wood-destroying fungi.展开更多
Sixteen liverwort specimens collected from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Huangbanjigou Village, Liaoning Province, China are studied in this work. The plants are thalloid and preserved in brown arenaceous m...Sixteen liverwort specimens collected from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Huangbanjigou Village, Liaoning Province, China are studied in this work. The plants are thalloid and preserved in brown arenaceous mudstone as impressions. Based on examinations, the liverworts are assigned to two new genera and five new species： Riccardiothallus palmata sp. nov., Pallaviciniites stricta sp. nov., Pellites latithallus gen. et sp. nov., Conocephalumites hexagonites gen. et sp. nov. and Metzgerites multifidus sp. nov., belonging to five families and five genera. The fossil research indicates that the divergence of families, Aneuraceae and Metzgeriaceae, Pallaviciniaceae and Hymenophytaceae,Pelliaceae and Fossombroniaceae, was in the Lower Cretaceous（125 Ma）. The research provides significant additions to the fossil liverwort records in Western Liaoning and offers fossil evidence for studying the classification and evolution of extant liverworts.展开更多
Nelumbo Adans. （Nelumbonaceae） is an important member of the early-diverging eudicots. It contains two extant species： N. nucifera Gaertn. （the Sacred lotus）, distributed in Asia and Australia and N. lutea Willd....Nelumbo Adans. （Nelumbonaceae） is an important member of the early-diverging eudicots. It contains two extant species： N. nucifera Gaertn. （the Sacred lotus）, distributed in Asia and Australia and N. lutea Willd. （the American lotus）, occurring in North America. This paper reviews the taxonomic, evolutionary and phytogeographic studies of the genus Nelumbo, and also raises scientific questions about it in further paleobotanic research. There are about 30 fossil species of Nelumbo established since the Early Cretaceous. Based on fossil studies, the ancestors of the extant N. nucifera and N. lutea are respectively considered to be N. protospeciosa from the Eocene to Miocene of Eurasia, and N. protolutea from the Eocene of North American. However, molecular systematic studies indicate that N. nucifera and N. lutea are probably split from a common ancestor during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, or even the Pleistocene, rather than separate relicts from extinct species on different continents. The characters of lotus stomatal development, seedling morphology as well as its flowering, pollination and fertilization in air reveal that it evolves from the land plants. Fossil data of Nelumbo indicates that the genus first occurs in mid-latitude area of Laurasia in the Early Cretaceous, then becomes widespread in North America and Eurasia and expands into Africa and South America during the Late Cretaceous; the genus probably colonizes the Indian Subcontinent from Asia during the Early Eocene after the collision of India and the Asian plates; the genus becomes extinct in Europe, but survives in Asia and North America during the Quaternary Ice Age, and later forms the present East Asia and North Australia-North America disjunctive distribution.展开更多
Twenty-seven moss specimens collected from the Guangfayong section （Early Miocene,22.1 Ma） of the Weichang District,North China were investigated in the present study.Based on the morphological and anatomical featur...Twenty-seven moss specimens collected from the Guangfayong section （Early Miocene,22.1 Ma） of the Weichang District,North China were investigated in the present study.Based on the morphological and anatomical features of gametophytes,all specimens were found to belong to three species：Leptodictyum riparium,Drepanocladus subtrichophyllus sp.nov.,and Amblystegium varium,all of which belong to the family Amblystegiaceae.The microhabitats and living environments of fossil mosses were also investigated based on comparison with living mosses.The results suggest that these mosses grew primarily at the edges of rivers,streams,and lakes and favored being submerged in streams or lakes in the Weichang District in the Early Miocene.展开更多
Pollen morphology of eight species of Saxifraga, i.e.S, cespitosa, S. oppositifolia, S. cernua, S. nivalis, S. aizoides, S. rivularis, S. hieraciifolia, and S. hirculus, collected from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic was...Pollen morphology of eight species of Saxifraga, i.e.S, cespitosa, S. oppositifolia, S. cernua, S. nivalis, S. aizoides, S. rivularis, S. hieraciifolia, and S. hirculus, collected from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Pollen grains of Saxifraga species are subprolate or prolate, 3-colpate, 15.4-44.4 μm in the polar axis, 11.4 34.6 μm in the equatorial axis, and show a P/E ratio 1.19-1.40. On the basis of exine ornamentation, four pollen types, viz., the S. oppositifolia type （striate without scabrae on the muff）, S. cernua type （striate with scabrae on the muri）, S. nivalis type （microreticulate and operculum absent）, and S. cespitosa type （microechinate and operculum present）, were recognized. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the pollen morphological characters indicated that pollen morphology supports the infrageneric classification of the genus Saxifraga.展开更多
Climate warming has become evident in the maritime Antarctic over the past decades, and has already influenced the growing season and the population size of two native vascular plants in Antarctica, Deschampsia antarc...Climate warming has become evident in the maritime Antarctic over the past decades, and has already influenced the growing season and the population size of two native vascular plants in Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. Both vascular plant species are therefore regarded as good bioindicators of regional warming in west Antarctica. To carry out long-term monitoring of vegetation （mainly using D. antarctica） and build a comprehensive research platform for multi-disciplinary study （including botany, microbiology, ecology, and environmental science） for Chinese scientists, 13 permanent plots were established in January and February of 2013-2015 in the area of Fildes Peninsula （King George Island）. Here we present the benchmark data of the first observations from these plots, including site characteristics, and the population and associates of D. antarctica in each plot. The basic data are important to understand the vegetation change, distribution range, and expansion of D. antarctica in Antarctica under future climate change scenarios.展开更多
Documenting morphological features of modem pollen is fundamental for the identification of fossil pollen, which will assist researchers to reconstruct the vegetation and climate of a particular geologic period. This ...Documenting morphological features of modem pollen is fundamental for the identification of fossil pollen, which will assist researchers to reconstruct the vegetation and climate of a particular geologic period. This paper presents the pollen morphol- ogy of 20 species of tundra plants from the high Arctic of Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, using light and scanning electron microscopy. The plants used in this study belong to 12 families： Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Juncaceae, Papav- eraceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. Pollen grain shapes included： spher- oidal, subprolate, and prolate. Variable apertural patterns ranged from 2-syncolpate, 3-colpate, 3-（-4）-colpate, 3-（-5）-colpate, 3-colporate, 5-poroid, ulcerate, ulcus to pantoporate. Exine ornamentations comprised psilate, striate-perforate, reticulate, mi- croechinate, microechinate-perforate, scabrate, granulate, and granulate-perforate. This study provided a useful reference for com- parative studies of fossil pollen and for the reconstruction of paleovegetation and paleoclimate in Svalbard region of Arctic.展开更多
In this paper, we discuss charcoalified foxtail millet grains dated to the middle to late Western Zhou Dynasty and collected from the Chenyuan archeological site in Shangluo, in China's southeastern Shaanxi Provin...In this paper, we discuss charcoalified foxtail millet grains dated to the middle to late Western Zhou Dynasty and collected from the Chenyuan archeological site in Shangluo, in China's southeastern Shaanxi Province. We assigned these specimens to the species Setaria italica based on the following characteristics: an obtuse chalazal apex with missing stigmatic remains; an undulant seed surface composed of rectangular cells with undulate anticlinal walls; an elongated and deeply depressed embryo extending to almost the full seed length; and spherical starch grains. We suggest that the spread of foxtail millet from its original northern distribution center to the southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains could be attributed to: its prominence across Zhou crop systems; the latter area's arid or subarid climate; and the migration south of Zhou people fleeing severe conflict between their nation and northern nomads.展开更多
Charcoals collected from the middle-late Pliocene sediments of the Taigu Basin,Shanxi Province,China,have been identified as Ulmus sp.(Ulmaceae),Prunus sp.,Maloidoxylon sp.(Rosaceae),and Maclura sp.(Moraceae).These ta...Charcoals collected from the middle-late Pliocene sediments of the Taigu Basin,Shanxi Province,China,have been identified as Ulmus sp.(Ulmaceae),Prunus sp.,Maloidoxylon sp.(Rosaceae),and Maclura sp.(Moraceae).These taxa,along with the previously known fossils,indicate the occurrence of temperate climate and local wildfire at that time.Charcoals of trees and/or shrubs and the morphological changes of these charcoals demonstrate that crown fires and surface fires occurred in the Taigu Basin during the middle-late Pliocene.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40403014)the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(KZCX1-10-01,KZCX2-SW-118)
文摘Specimens of fossil wood preserved lignified in Pliocene brown coal and identified as Pinus armandii Francher come from an opencast coalmine at Longling in western Yunnan Province, China. Phytochemical investigation of the fossil wood isolated using liquid column chromatography seven compounds （1-7） including a new fluorene derivative named 11,11-dimethyl-11H-benzo[b]fluorene. A further 28 volatiles were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. Spectroscopic investigation methods, including MS and 1D and 2D-NMR techniques elucidated the structure of the seven compounds. Two types of natural products, isopimara and stilbene commonly occuring in extant and Pliocene fossil P. armandii indicate phytochemical fidelity during burial under certain circumstances in sediments. Discovery of stilbenes that can inhibit the activities of wood-destroying fungi in the Pliocene P. armandii prompts the assumption that the chemical preservation of this Pliocene fossil wood of P. armandii in brown coal might contribute to the presence of inner natural inhibitors against wood-destroying fungi.
基金funded by Ministry of Science and Technology(2015FY310100)Natural Science Foundation of China(41402023,41472030)China Geological Survey(DD20160120-04,DD20160345)
文摘Sixteen liverwort specimens collected from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Huangbanjigou Village, Liaoning Province, China are studied in this work. The plants are thalloid and preserved in brown arenaceous mudstone as impressions. Based on examinations, the liverworts are assigned to two new genera and five new species： Riccardiothallus palmata sp. nov., Pallaviciniites stricta sp. nov., Pellites latithallus gen. et sp. nov., Conocephalumites hexagonites gen. et sp. nov. and Metzgerites multifidus sp. nov., belonging to five families and five genera. The fossil research indicates that the divergence of families, Aneuraceae and Metzgeriaceae, Pallaviciniaceae and Hymenophytaceae,Pelliaceae and Fossombroniaceae, was in the Lower Cretaceous（125 Ma）. The research provides significant additions to the fossil liverwort records in Western Liaoning and offers fossil evidence for studying the classification and evolution of extant liverworts.
基金supported by the International S&T Cooperation Project of China No.2009DFA32210the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41210001)
文摘Nelumbo Adans. （Nelumbonaceae） is an important member of the early-diverging eudicots. It contains two extant species： N. nucifera Gaertn. （the Sacred lotus）, distributed in Asia and Australia and N. lutea Willd. （the American lotus）, occurring in North America. This paper reviews the taxonomic, evolutionary and phytogeographic studies of the genus Nelumbo, and also raises scientific questions about it in further paleobotanic research. There are about 30 fossil species of Nelumbo established since the Early Cretaceous. Based on fossil studies, the ancestors of the extant N. nucifera and N. lutea are respectively considered to be N. protospeciosa from the Eocene to Miocene of Eurasia, and N. protolutea from the Eocene of North American. However, molecular systematic studies indicate that N. nucifera and N. lutea are probably split from a common ancestor during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, or even the Pleistocene, rather than separate relicts from extinct species on different continents. The characters of lotus stomatal development, seedling morphology as well as its flowering, pollination and fertilization in air reveal that it evolves from the land plants. Fossil data of Nelumbo indicates that the genus first occurs in mid-latitude area of Laurasia in the Early Cretaceous, then becomes widespread in North America and Eurasia and expands into Africa and South America during the Late Cretaceous; the genus probably colonizes the Indian Subcontinent from Asia during the Early Eocene after the collision of India and the Asian plates; the genus becomes extinct in Europe, but survives in Asia and North America during the Quaternary Ice Age, and later forms the present East Asia and North Australia-North America disjunctive distribution.
基金supported by grants from China Geological Survey (No. 1212011120116)the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41072022 and 41210001)+2 种基金the International S & T Cooperation Project of China (No. 2009DFA32210)the Outlay Research Fund of the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (No. J1213)a contribution to a bilateral research project supported by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BL/36/C54)
文摘Twenty-seven moss specimens collected from the Guangfayong section （Early Miocene,22.1 Ma） of the Weichang District,North China were investigated in the present study.Based on the morphological and anatomical features of gametophytes,all specimens were found to belong to three species：Leptodictyum riparium,Drepanocladus subtrichophyllus sp.nov.,and Amblystegium varium,all of which belong to the family Amblystegiaceae.The microhabitats and living environments of fossil mosses were also investigated based on comparison with living mosses.The results suggest that these mosses grew primarily at the edges of rivers,streams,and lakes and favored being submerged in streams or lakes in the Weichang District in the Early Miocene.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant no.41271222)Main Direction Program of Knowledge Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant no.KSCX2-EW-J-1)+3 种基金Projects of the CAA,SOA(Grant nos.2012YR06006 and13/14YR05)SKLSEB-IBCAS(Grant no.56176G1048)Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists(Grant no.90004F1005)Visiting Scholarship funded by the China Scholarship Council(Grant no.201204910043)
文摘Pollen morphology of eight species of Saxifraga, i.e.S, cespitosa, S. oppositifolia, S. cernua, S. nivalis, S. aizoides, S. rivularis, S. hieraciifolia, and S. hirculus, collected from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Pollen grains of Saxifraga species are subprolate or prolate, 3-colpate, 15.4-44.4 μm in the polar axis, 11.4 34.6 μm in the equatorial axis, and show a P/E ratio 1.19-1.40. On the basis of exine ornamentation, four pollen types, viz., the S. oppositifolia type （striate without scabrae on the muff）, S. cernua type （striate with scabrae on the muri）, S. nivalis type （microreticulate and operculum absent）, and S. cespitosa type （microechinate and operculum present）, were recognized. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the pollen morphological characters indicated that pollen morphology supports the infrageneric classification of the genus Saxifraga.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no.41271222)Main Direction Program of Knowledge Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant no.KSCX2-EW-J-1)SKLSEB-IBCAS (Grant no.56176G1048)
文摘Climate warming has become evident in the maritime Antarctic over the past decades, and has already influenced the growing season and the population size of two native vascular plants in Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. Both vascular plant species are therefore regarded as good bioindicators of regional warming in west Antarctica. To carry out long-term monitoring of vegetation （mainly using D. antarctica） and build a comprehensive research platform for multi-disciplinary study （including botany, microbiology, ecology, and environmental science） for Chinese scientists, 13 permanent plots were established in January and February of 2013-2015 in the area of Fildes Peninsula （King George Island）. Here we present the benchmark data of the first observations from these plots, including site characteristics, and the population and associates of D. antarctica in each plot. The basic data are important to understand the vegetation change, distribution range, and expansion of D. antarctica in Antarctica under future climate change scenarios.
基金financially supported by the Main Direction Program of Knowledge Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant no.KSCX2-EW-J-1)State Key Laboratory Systematics and Evolutionary Botany,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLSEB-IBCAS,Grant no.56176G1048)
文摘Documenting morphological features of modem pollen is fundamental for the identification of fossil pollen, which will assist researchers to reconstruct the vegetation and climate of a particular geologic period. This paper presents the pollen morphol- ogy of 20 species of tundra plants from the high Arctic of Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, using light and scanning electron microscopy. The plants used in this study belong to 12 families： Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Juncaceae, Papav- eraceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. Pollen grain shapes included： spher- oidal, subprolate, and prolate. Variable apertural patterns ranged from 2-syncolpate, 3-colpate, 3-（-4）-colpate, 3-（-5）-colpate, 3-colporate, 5-poroid, ulcerate, ulcus to pantoporate. Exine ornamentations comprised psilate, striate-perforate, reticulate, mi- croechinate, microechinate-perforate, scabrate, granulate, and granulate-perforate. This study provided a useful reference for com- parative studies of fossil pollen and for the reconstruction of paleovegetation and paleoclimate in Svalbard region of Arctic.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31070184,30370237,90202019,40325007 and 40121303)the Special Fund of Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology,Academia Sinica(SFPPAS,9713)the Overseas Outstanding Scholar Foundation of Chinese Academy of Sciences(2003-1-7)
文摘In this paper, we discuss charcoalified foxtail millet grains dated to the middle to late Western Zhou Dynasty and collected from the Chenyuan archeological site in Shangluo, in China's southeastern Shaanxi Province. We assigned these specimens to the species Setaria italica based on the following characteristics: an obtuse chalazal apex with missing stigmatic remains; an undulant seed surface composed of rectangular cells with undulate anticlinal walls; an elongated and deeply depressed embryo extending to almost the full seed length; and spherical starch grains. We suggest that the spread of foxtail millet from its original northern distribution center to the southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains could be attributed to: its prominence across Zhou crop systems; the latter area's arid or subarid climate; and the migration south of Zhou people fleeing severe conflict between their nation and northern nomads.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.30770148,30990241,30530050,39770046 and 41072022)
文摘Charcoals collected from the middle-late Pliocene sediments of the Taigu Basin,Shanxi Province,China,have been identified as Ulmus sp.(Ulmaceae),Prunus sp.,Maloidoxylon sp.(Rosaceae),and Maclura sp.(Moraceae).These taxa,along with the previously known fossils,indicate the occurrence of temperate climate and local wildfire at that time.Charcoals of trees and/or shrubs and the morphological changes of these charcoals demonstrate that crown fires and surface fires occurred in the Taigu Basin during the middle-late Pliocene.
