Ludwig Maximilian University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Biology and Geobio-Center, Menzinger Straße. 67, 80638, Munich, Germany.
Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, Carretera de Varona 11835 e/ Oriente y Lindero, La Habana 19, CP 11900, Calabazar, Boyeros, La Habana, Cuba.
Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 6;7(1):14615. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-14985-7.
The monospecific fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae; Polypodiales) occurs exclusively in the tropical forests of the Malay Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the Louisiade Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. Divergence time estimates suggest that the genus originated in the Mesozoic; however, fossil evidence to validate this suggestion has been lacking. Amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber) is an important source of new information on the diversity of vascular cryptogams in the Cretaceous. This paper describes the fossil taxon Cystodium sorbifolioides nov. sp. based on a fragment of a fertile leaf preserved in Burmese amber that represents the first fossil evidence of the family Cystodiaceae. Cystodium sorbifolioides is used to obtain a minimum age estimate for the Cystodiaceae and the closely related, monogeneric Lonchitidaceae and Lindsaeaceae. The fossil strengthens the hypothesis that the forest ecosystems of Malesia and Melanesia represent refugia for many tropical plant lineages that originated in the Cretaceous.
单种蕨类植物 Cystodium（水龙骨科；水龙骨目）仅存在于马来群岛、阿德默勒尔蒂群岛、路易西亚德群岛和所罗门群岛的热带森林中。分歧时间估计表明，该属起源于中生代；然而，缺乏验证这一观点的化石证据。缅甸琥珀（缅甸琥珀）是了解白垩纪维管隐花植物多样性的重要信息来源。本文描述了化石分类群 Cystodium sorbifolioides nov. sp.，它基于保存在缅甸琥珀中的一片可育叶的碎片，这代表了水龙骨科的第一个化石证据。Cystodium sorbifolioides 用于为 Cystodiaceae 以及密切相关的单种 Lonchitidaceae 和 Lindsaeaceae 获得最小年龄估计。该化石支持了这样一种假说，即马来群岛和美拉尼西亚的森林生态系统是许多起源于白垩纪的热带植物谱系的避难所。
