Project 4670: Z. Walker, G. W. Rothwell, R. A. Stockey. 2023. Fossil evidence for sporeling delelopment of a Mesozoic osmundaceous fern. American Journal of Botany. 110 (8):e16210.
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: An anatomically preserved fossil fern sporeling has been discovered in a Lower Cretaceous marine concretion from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, providing an opportunity to characterize rhizome growth from an extinct species.METHODS: The specimen was studied from serial transverse sections prepared by the cellulose acetate peel technique.
KEY RESULTS: The rhizome ranges ~0.7¬¬–1.1 mm in diameter, has a sclerenchymatous pith, a stele that attains a dictyoxylic architecture, and sclerenchymatous outer cortex; features that are characteristic of osmundaceous rhizomes. Cauline xylem forms a medullated protostele or solenostele at some levels, but is dissected into discrete xylem bundles at others. Fronds diverge in a helical phyllotaxis, range up to 1.1 mm in greatest dimension, have a C-shaped trace, and outer cortex of sclerotic cells. Inside the sclerenchyma of the petioles there are two lateral sclerotic strands and a sclerotic bundle adaxial to the trace. Together, these characters reveal the occurrence of a new species, Todea minutacaulis, and provides evidence for developmental changes that occur in the rhizome as the sporeling increased in size.
CONCLUSIONS: Small size of the specimen, medullated protostelic-dictyoxylic solenostelar vascular architecture, and incompletely sclerified cells apically reveal that osmundaceous sporeling development has remained constant since at least the Early Cretaceous. Together with Todea tidwellii and Osmunda vancouverensis that also are present in the Apple Bay flora, this sporeling documents the occurrence of a multispecies assemblage of osmundaceous ferns and demonstrates that the genus Todea was diversifying rapidly by the Early Cretaceous.
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Article DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16210
Project DOI: 10.7934/P4670, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P4670
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 523 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 41 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 94 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:41/0 |
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MorphoBank Project 4670
MorphoBank Project 4670
- Creation Date:
09 May 2023 - Publication Date:
04 December 2023 - Project views: 1353
- Matrix downloads: 2
Authors' Institutions
- Ohio University
- Oregon State University
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
Gar Rothwell Project Administrator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
MorphoBank Curator Full membership | 15 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 523 (522, 0, 1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M29565' (14 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Ophioglossum reticulatum Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 1 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[2] Angiopteris lygodiifolia Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[3] Cephalomanes thysanostomun Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[4] Lygodium japanicum Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 7 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[5] Gleichenia japonica Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[6] Dryopteris cristata Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[7] Stegnogramma pozoi Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 13 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[8] Todea barbara SouthAfrica Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[9] Osmundastrum cinnamomea Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[10] Leptopteris hymenophylloides Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[11] Osmunda regalis Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[12] Osmunda vachellii Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[13] † Todea tidwellii Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 6 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[14] † Todea minutacaulis Last Modified in 11/30/23 | 5 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 1353 | |
Media views | 311 | Media search (230 views); M898336 (39 views); M898337 (42 views); |
Project overview | 96 | |
Documents list | 63 | |
Bibliography | 53 | |
Views for media list | 156 | |
Taxon list | 398 | |
Specimen list | 201 | |
Matrix views | 75 | Matrix landing page (68 views); Matrix from Walker et al 2023 - reformatted by coauthors from file provided by authors and resulting file checked by authors (7 views); |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 2 | |
Matrix downloads | 2 | Matrix from Walker et al 2023 - reformatted by coauthors from file provided by authors and resulting file checked by authors (2 downloads); |