Friis Else Marie, Doyle James A, Endress Peter K, Leng Qin
Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.
Trends Plant Sci. 2003 Aug;8(8):369-73. doi: 10.1016/S1360-1385(03)00161-4.
With molecular analyses indicating that angiosperms are not closely related to any other extant seed plant group, information from fossils might provide the only basis for reconstructing their origin. Therefore the description of a new Early Cretaceous angiosperm, Archaefructus, placed as the sister of all extant angiosperms, has created much debate and optimism. However, we question both the interpretation and the analysis of Archaefructus, concluding that it might be a crown-group angiosperm specialized for aquatic habit rather than a more primitive relative.
分子分析表明被子植物与其他现存种子植物类群并无密切关系,因此化石信息可能是重建其起源的唯一依据。所以,一种新的早白垩世被子植物——古果的描述引发了诸多争论与乐观情绪,它被置于所有现存被子植物的姊妹群位置。然而,我们对古果的解读和分析均表示质疑,得出的结论是它可能是一种适应水生习性的冠群被子植物,而非更为原始的近缘物种。