TITLE:
A Fruit-Bearing Angiosperm from the Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China
AUTHORS:
Gang Han, Jie Sun, Xin Wang
KEYWORDS:
Fruit, Angiosperm, China, Jurassic, Daohugoufructus
JOURNAL NAME:
Voice of the Publisher,
Vol.10 No.2,
June
27,
2024
ABSTRACT: Although pre-Cretaceous angiosperms were rejected or suspected by some palaeobotanists, their existence in the Jurassic appears increasingly plausible, especially when recent palaeobotanical progress and phylogenomic studies are taken into consideration. An herbaceous whole plant of an angiosperm has been reported from the Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, but its implication for angiosperm evolution is under-appreciated. Here, from exactly the same fossil locality, we report a fruit-bearing angiosperm, Daohugoufructus sinensis gen. et sp. nov, which was previously wronged as a gnetalean plant. The unique fruits on elongated scapes distinguish Daohugoufructus from all known gymnosperms and suggest an angiospermous affinity. With physically connected fruits, leaves, and a branch, Daohugoufructus sheds an otherwise unavailable light on early angiosperms and their evolution.