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- Title
Zhangwuia: an enigmatic organ with a bennettitalean appearance and enclosed ovules.
- Authors
Liu, Zhong-Jian; Hou, Ye-Mao; Wang, Xin
- Abstract
The feature distinguishing typical angiosperms from gymnosperms is that their ovules are enclosed before pollination. Bennettitales were formerly related to angiosperms because of the flower-like organisation of the former's reproductive organs. There is little information on how the naked ovules of Bennettitales became enclosed in angiosperms because fossil evidence for such a transition, if it exists, has not been described. Here, we report a reproductive organ, Zhangwuia gen. nov., from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Like many Bennettitales, the arrangement of the foliar parts around the female part in Zhangwuia demonstrates a resemblance to typical angiosperm flowers. It is noteworthy that the ovule is secluded from the exterior space in Zhangwuia , therefore implying the existence of angio-ovuly. Although Bennettitales have been related to angiosperms for more than a hundred years, their way of ovule-enclosing was not previously revealed. The discovery of Zhangwuia prompts a rethinking of the relationship between Bennettitales and angiosperms, as well as of the origin of angiosperms.
- Publication
Earth & Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2019, Vol 108, Issue 4, p419
- ISSN
1755-6910
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1017/S1755691018000257