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      Chengia laxispicata gen. et sp. nov., a new ephedroid plant from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, Northeast China: evolutionary, taxonomic, and biogeographic implications

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          Abstract

          Background

          The extant Gnetales include three monotypic families, namely, Ephedraceae ( Ephedra), Gnetaceae ( Gnetum), and Welwitschiaceae ( Welwitschia), all of which possess compound female cones that comprise a main axis and 1 to multiple pairs/whorls of bracts subtending a female reproductive unit or having lower pairs/whorls of bracts sterile. However, the evolutionary origin of such a reproductive architecture in Gnetales is controversial in the light of the competing anthophyte versus gnetifer hypotheses of seed plant relationships. Hence, macrofossils demonstrating the structure of compound female cones of the Gnetales should be important to decipher the early evolution of the order.

          Results

          A new ephedroid plant Chengia laxispicata gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, Northeast China. The fossil represents a part of a leafy shooting system with reproductive organs attached. The main shoot bears internodes and swollen nodes, from which lateral branches arise oppositely. Reproductive organs consist of female spikes terminal to twigs or axillary to linear leaves. Spikes are loosely arranged, having prominent nodes and internodes. Bracts of the spikes are decussately opposite and comprise 4—8 pairs of bracts. Each bract subtends an ellipsoid seed. Seeds are sessile, with a thin outer envelope and a distal micropylar tube.

          Conclusions

          Chengia laxispicata gen. et sp. nov. provides a missing link between archetypal fertile organs in the crown lineage of the Gnetales and compound female cones of the extant Ephedraceae. Combined with a wealth of Ephedra and ephedroid macrofossils from the Early Cretaceous, we propose a reduction and sterilization hypothesis that the female cone of the extant Ephedraceae may have stemmed from archetypal fertile organs in the crown lineage of the Gnetales. These have undergone sequentially intermediate links similar to female cones of Cretaceous Siphonospermum, Chengia, and Liaoxia by reduction and sterilization of the lower fertile bracts, shortenings of internodes and peduncles as well as loss of reproductive units in all inferior bracts. The basal family Ephedraceae including Ephedra of the extant Gnetales was demonstrated to have considerable diversity by the Early Cretaceous, so an emended familial diagnosis is given here. The Jehol Biota in Northeast China and adjacent areas contains a plethora of well-preserved macrofossils of Ephedra and ephedroids that show different evolutionary stages including primitive and derived characters of Ephedraceae, so Northeast China and adjacent areas may represent either the centre of origination or one of the centres for early diversification of the family.

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          Most cited references50

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          An exceptionally preserved Lower Cretaceous ecosystem.

          Fieldwork in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group, northeastern China has revealed a plethora of extraordinarily well-preserved fossils that are shaping some of the most contentious debates in palaeontology and evolutionary biology. These discoveries include feathered theropod dinosaurs and early birds, which provide additional, indisputable support for the dinosaurian ancestry of birds, and much new evidence on the evolution of feathers and flight. Specimens of putative basal angiosperms and primitive mammals are clarifying details of the early radiations of these major clades. Detailed soft-tissue preservation of the organisms from the Jehol Biota is providing palaeobiological insights that would not normally be accessible from the fossil record.
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            The origin and early diversification of angiosperms

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              Phylogenetic Analysis of Seed Plants and the Origin of Angiosperms

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                BMC Evol Biol
                BMC Evol. Biol
                BMC Evolutionary Biology
                BioMed Central
                1471-2148
                2013
                27 March 2013
                : 13
                : 72
                Affiliations
                [1 ]State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
                [2 ]China Railway Group Limited, 69 Fuxing Road, Beijing, 100039, China
                Article
                1471-2148-13-72
                10.1186/1471-2148-13-72
                3626868
                23530702
                fae94a80-5ff4-4108-8cbe-bb03c90b77e8
                Copyright ©2013 Yang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 14 December 2012
                : 20 March 2013
                Categories
                Research Article

                Evolutionary Biology
                biogeography,chengia,early cretaceous,ephedraceae,ephedroid,evolution,female cone,gnetales,jehol biota,reduction and sterilization hypothesis,yixian formation

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