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Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae, commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs, grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of broad-leaved trees, shrubs and vines, and most aquatic plants. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ἀγγεῖον / angeion and σπέρμα / sperma ('seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. They are by far the most diverse group of land plants with 64 orders, 416 families, approximately 13,000 known genera and 300,000 known species. Angiosperms were formerly called Magnoliophyta.
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group.
Gnetophyta is a division of plants, grouped within the gymnosperms, that consists of some 70 species across the three relict genera: Gnetum, Welwitschia, and Ephedra. The earliest unambiguous records of the group date to the Jurassic, and they achieved their highest diversity during the Early Cretaceous. The primary difference between gnetophytes and other gymnosperms is the presence of vessel elements, a system of small tubes (xylem) that transport water within the plant, similar to those found in flowering plants. Because of this, gnetophytes were once thought to be the closest gymnosperm relatives to flowering plants, but more recent molecular studies have brought this hypothesis into question, with many recent phylogenies finding them to be nested within the conifers.
Bennettitales is an extinct order of seed plants that first appeared in the Permian period and became extinct in most areas toward the end of the Cretaceous. Bennettitales were amongst the most common seed plants of the Mesozoic, and had morphologies including shrub and cycad-like forms. The foliage of bennettitaleans is superficially nearly indistinguishable from that of cycads, but they are distinguished from cycads by their more complex flower-like reproductive organs, at least some of which were likely pollinated by insects.
Archaeamphora longicervia is a fossil plant species, the only member of the hypothetical genus Archaeamphora. Fossil material assigned to this taxon originates from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China, dated to the Early Cretaceous.
Schmeissneria is a genus of possible early angiosperms recorded from the Lower Jurassic of Europe and the Middle Jurassic of China, traditionally included in the Ginkgophyta.
The basal angiosperms are the flowering plants which diverged from the lineage leading to most flowering plants. In particular, the most basal angiosperms were called the ANITA grade, which is made up of Amborella, Nymphaeales and Austrobaileyales.
The Caytoniales are an extinct order of seed plants known from fossils collected throughout the Mesozoic Era, around 252 to 66 million years ago. They are regarded as seed ferns because they are seed-bearing plants with fern-like leaves. Although at one time considered angiosperms because of their berry-like cupules, that hypothesis was later disproven. Nevertheless, some authorities consider them likely ancestors or close relatives of angiosperms. The origin of angiosperms remains unclear, and they cannot be linked with any known seed plants groups with certainty.
The Tiaojishan Formation is a geological formation in Hebei and Liaoning, People's Republic of China, dating to the middle-late Jurassic period. It is known for its exceptionally preserved fossils, including those of plants, insects and vertebrates. It is made up mainly of pyroclastic rock interspersed with basic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Previously, the Tiaojishan Formation was grouped together with the underlying Haifanggou Formation as a single "Lanqi Formation." The Tiaojishan Formation forms a key part of the Yanliao Biota assemblage, alongside the Haifanggou Formation.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2010.
The Haifanggou Formation, also known as the Jiulongshan Formation, is a fossil-bearing rock deposit located near Daohugou village of Ningcheng County, in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China.
Solaranthus is an extinct genus of plants with contentious affinities which has been found fossilized in the Jiulongshan Formation of China. It dates to the middle Jurassic period. It was first named by Shaolin Zheng and Xin Wang in 2010 and the type species is Solaranthus daohugouensis.
Tonganosaurus is a genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, similar to Omeisaurus. It is known from one specimen consisting of twenty vertebrae, a front limb and pectoral girdle, and a complete hind limb with partial hip. It was discovered in the Yimen Formation, China. The horizon of the specimen and the age of the Yimen Formation is controversial. The formation has been divided into three levels, and Tonganosaurus appears to be of late Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) age. Tonganosaurus is the oldest known member of the mamenchisaurids, being almost 15 million years older than the next-oldest members of the group. It was first named by Li Kui, Yang Chun-Yan, Liu Jian and Wang Zheng-Xin in 2010 and the type species is Tonganosaurus hei.
This article records new taxa of plants that are scheduled to be described during the year 2017, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that are scheduled to occur in the year 2017.
This article records new taxa of plants that are scheduled to be described during the year 2018, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that occurred in the year 2018.
This article records new taxa of fossil plants that are scheduled to be described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that are scheduled to occur in the year 2019.
Nanjinganthus dendrostyla is a fossil plant known from Early Jurassic sediments in China and proposed by Fu, et al. to represent a pre-Cretaceous angiosperm. The material consists of numerous compression fossils which bear a resemblance to flowers. The segments bear prominent ridges, suggesting veins, and a few specimens have a branched axis perpendicular to the segments, interpreted by Fu, et al. as a branched style. Beneath the putative perianth, Fu, et al. interpret the existence of ovules enclosed in ovaries, however, the preservation of this region of the structure is poor.
This article records new taxa of fossil plants that are scheduled to be described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that are scheduled to occur in the year 2020.
This list of 2013 in paleobotany records new fossil plant taxa that were described during 2013, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that occurred in the year.
This paleobotany list records new fossil plant taxa that were to be described during the year 2012, as well as notes other significant paleobotany discoveries and events which occurred during 2012.
References
- 1 2 Xin Wang; Shijun Wang (2010). "Xingxueanthus: An Enigmatic Jurassic Seed Plant and Its Implications for the Origin of Angiospermy". Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition. 84 (1): 47–55. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2010.00169.x. S2CID 140739086.
- ↑ Coiro, Mario; Doyle, James A.; Hilton, Jason (2019). "How deep is the conflict between molecular and fossil evidence on the age of angiosperms?". New Phytologist. 223 (1): 83–99. doi: 10.1111/nph.15708 . ISSN 1469-8137. PMID 30681148.
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