[PaleoBotany • 2026] Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. preserved in the Mexican Amber unravels the polycarpellate condition in the tribe Mimoseae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae)

  

Simojoflorum mijangosii 

Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán & Cevallos-Ferriz, 

in Hernández-Damián, Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz, 2026. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2604147

Drawings by Aldo Domínguez de la Torre.

 

ABSTRACT

An inflorescence preserved in amber from the middle-early Miocene from southern Mexico is identified as a new extinct member of Fabaceae. We described and identified the fossil material, comparing it with extant and fossil members of the Fabaceae using light microscopy and computed microtomography. The fossil inflorescence has morphological characters that allow a near comparison with Caesalpinioideae (Fabaceae), including flowers aggregated in a capitate inflorescence. Even more, bisexual and staminate flowers, valvate aestivation, many stamens, a superior, unilocular ovary with marginal placentation are characters that allow their comparison with the tribe Mimoseae, especially the polycarpellate gynoecium is comparable to the Acacieae and Ingeae tribes in the traditional classification. However, other floral characteristics, such as anther glands, partially united filaments, a basal nectariferous disk, and a stalk ovary, are comparable to Mariosousa Seigler & Ebinger, 2006, Senegalia Raf., 1838, and Parasenegalia Seigler & Ebinger, 2017. The phylogenetic relationship between them is unresolved, and information on the floral structure is limited for further comparison. Thus, we support the identification of Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. as a new extinct member of the tribe Mimoseae that suggests the diversification of the lineage during the Miocene.

KEYWORDS: Fossil inflorescence, Fabaceae, Mimoseae, Miocene, polycarpellate

Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. from Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico.
(A) Overall view showing the spherical capitate inflorescence, scale bar: 1.0 mm. (B), Lateral view of spherical inflorescence, scale: 1.0 mm. (C) Detail of staminate and bisexual flowers arranged in the spherical capitate inflorescence, inferior left arrow indicates staminate flower, superior left arrow indicates the differentiated perianth, and right arrow indicates a bisexual flower with a large style, scale: 1.0 mm. (D) Detail of sessile flowers with differentiate perianth, right arrow indicates sepal and left arrow to indicate petal, scale: 0.5 mm. (E) Detail of anthers, right arrow indicates dorsifixed anthers, and left arrow indicates glandular appendage, scale: 0.2 mm. (F) Detail of stigma and style, scale: 0.5 mm.

Family: Fabaceae Lindley, Citation1836

Subfamily Caesalpinioideae De Candolle, Citation1825

Tribe: Mimoseae sensu Queiroz et al. Citation2024

Genus: Simojoflorum Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz gen. nov.

Etymology: The epithet Simojo refers to Simojovel de Allende, the locality from which the fossil was collected, and florum, of Latin meaning flowers.

Generic diagnosis: Inflorescence capitate and spherical with staminate and bisexual flowers. Staminate flowers sessile with pentamerous and differentiate perianth, actinomorphic; calyx and corolla with valvate aestivation, androecium with more than 30 stamens slightly fused at the base with stalked glands. Bisexual flowers with a basal nectariferous disk; central carpel stipitate, ovary superior, unilocular with ca. twenty ovules in two rows, and marginal placentation along a ventral suture. Some bisexual flowers present 4–5 peripheral carpels that surround the central carpel, these carpels are poorly differen and smaller than the central one.

 

Simojoflorum mijangosii Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz sp. nov.

Etymology: The epithet mijangosii refers to Luis Alonso Zuñiga Mijangos who contributed to the study of Mexican amber through the Museo del ámbar, Lilia Mijangos.

 

Holotype: MALM-00111 (Museo del Ámbar, Lilia Mijangos)

 

Locality: Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico

Stratigraphic horizon: La Quinta Formation, middle-early Miocene

Artistic reconstruction of inflorescence, flowers, and hypothetical whole plant of Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. in the Mexican amber.
(A) Spherical capitate inflorescence of Simojoflorum mijangosii, scale=1.0 mm. (B) Details of staminate flower, scale = 0.25 mm. (C) Details of anther glands, scale=0.05 mm. (D) Details of monocarpellate bisexual flower, scale = 0.25 mm; (E) Details of polycarpellate bisexual flower, scale = 0.25 mm. (F) Hypothetical Simojoflorum mijangosii small tree, scale = 2.0 m.

Drawings by Aldo Domínguez de la Torre.

 Ana L. Hernández-Damián, Marco A. Rubalcava Knoth,Sandra L. Gómez- Acevedo, Ramiro Cruz-Durán and Sergio R. S. Cevallos-Ferriz. 2026. Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. preserved in the Mexican Amber unravels the polycarpellate condition in the tribe Mimoseae (Caesalpinioideae, Fabaceae). Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2604147 [13 Jan 2026]

[Paleontology • 2025] Rugososporomyces lavoisierae (Glomeromycotina: Glomeromycetes) • An arbuscular mycorrhiza from the 407-million-year-old Windyfield Chert identified through advanced fluorescence and Raman imaging:

Rugososporomyces lavoisierae Strullu-Derrien & Schornack, 

in Strullu-Derrien, Wightman, McDonnell, Evans, Fercoq, Kenrick, Ferrari et Schornack, 2025.

DOI: doi.org/10.1111/nph.70655  

 x.com/CStrulluDerrien 

Mycorrhizal associations between fungi and plants are a fundamental aspect of terrestrial ecosystems. Mycorrhizas occur in c. 85% of extant plants, yet their geological record remains sparse. Rare fossil evidence from early terrestrial environments offers crucial insights into these ancient symbioses, but visualizing fossil fungi at the microscale within plant tissues is challenging.

Here, we combine confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to investigate a newly identified fungus and cellular structures of a 407-Myr-old plant from the Windyfield Chert, a stratigraphically distinct fossiliferous unit from Rhynie (Scotland). We also applied Raman spectroscopy to investigate the carbon framework of both fungal and plant tissues.

This integrative approach revealed fungal structures in unprecedented detail. The fungus, Rugososporomyces lavoisierae gen. nov., sp. nov., exhibits features resembling extant Glomeromycotina arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. This is the first record of mycorrhizas from the Windyfield Chert. FLIM further distinguished features at the subcellular level, while Raman spectroscopy showed that fungal arbuscules and vesicles of the plant water-conducting cells underwent geological alterations, resulting in a similar chemical composition.

These findings expand our understanding of ancient and extremely rare plant–fungal symbioses and highlight the potential of confocal-FLIM for advancing palaeobotanical research.

Keywords: AM mycorrhizas, confocal scanning laser microscopy, Devonian, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, fossil record, plant symbioic fingus, Raman Spectroscopy, 3D imaging

A morphologically distinct endomycorrhizal fungus colonizing the plant Aglaophyton majus

Systematics

Kingdom – Fungi R.T. Moore.

Phylum – Mucoromycota Doweld, emend. Spatafora & Stajich.

Subphylum – Glomeromycotina (C. Walker and A. Schüßler) Spatafora & Stajich, subphylum and stat. nov.

Class – Glomeromycetes Caval.-Sm.

Order – Incertae sedis – Strullu-Derrien & Schornack.

Genus – Rugososporomyces Strullu-Derrien & Schornack gen. nov.

Etymology – Rugoso refers to the nature of the spore wall; sporo is from the Greek spora meaning spore; myces is the Latin word for fungus.

Genus diagnosis – Fungus with aseptate intercellular hyphae with H branching, spores, vesicles and intracellular arbuscules. Differs from other fungi in the Rhynie Chert in the following ways: spore wall possibly bilayered, with a relatively thick, rugose wall; smaller diameter of the branching hyphae; hyphae terminating in a spore are either smaller or larger than other hyphae; the ratio of spore diameter to hyphal width is smaller; the spores are comparatively either smaller or larger.

Species – Rugososporomyces lavoisierae Strullu-Derrien & Schornack sp. nov.

Etymology – In honor of Marie-Anne Paulze de Lavoisier (1758–1836), who was a collaborator of her husband, Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier and was his laboratory assistant. The scientific collaboration of this husband-wife team is perhaps unique among the giants of respiratory physiology (West, 2013). Together, they pioneered Physiology and established the basis of modern Chemistry, two areas relevant to our study.

Species diagnosis – Branched hyphae 3.5–6.5 μm in diameter; unbranched hyphae 7 μm in diameter when terminating in a spore and 4 μm in diameter when terminating in a vesicle; basal stalk of the arbuscules 3.5 μm in diameter. Spores globose, up to 74 μm in diameter, with a 3.1 μm thick rugose and possibly bilayered wall. Subtending hypha closed by a septum. Vesicles range from globose (up to 39 μm in diameter) to elongate (41 μm wide, 50 μm long).

Holotype – specimens in slide no. NMS G.2022.11.48.1 at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. Fig. 1.

Locality – Rhynie, North-West of Aberdeen (Scotland): Windyfield Cherts Unit (Rice & Ashcroft, 2004).

Age – Lower Devonian (407.1 ± 2.2 Ma) (Mark et al., 2011).

  

Christine Strullu-Derrien, Raymond Wightman, Liam Patrick McDonnell, Gareth Evans, Frédéric A. Fercoq, Paul Kenrick, Andrea C. Ferrari and Sebastian Schornack. 2025. An arbuscular mycorrhiza from the 407-million-year-old Windyfield Chert identified through advanced fluorescence and Raman imaging. New Phytologist. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/nph.70655 [12 November 2025]

  x.com/CStrulluDerrien/status/1988628967931236440

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Stellula meridionalis • the Oldest Fossil Flower from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina

Stellula meridionalis

Puebla & Prámparo, 2025 

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2025.105350 

Highlights: 

• Stellula meridionalis gen et sp. nov represents the first Early Cretaceous flower associated with eudicot leaves.

• The new taxon highlights the importance of Argentine fossils as a key to understanding the early evolution of angiosperms.

• Remains of leaves, flowers and pollen show angiosperms were established in the Aptian in mid-latitudes of South America.

Abstract

In this contribution, we describe a novel angiosperm floral axis, Stellula meridionalis gen. et sp. nov., consisting of a botryoid inflorescence, from the upper Aptian La Cantera Formation, San Luis Basin, central-western Argentina. Flowers are small, sessile and arranged distally on the inflorescences. Some specimens were found organically associated with leaves of “LC-Microphyll trifoliate”, a previously described and published fossil taxon. The leaves are nanophyllous, petiolate, with pinnately lobed or toothed margins, and the apex isn't preserved. Morphological features, such as pinnately lobed or toothed leaves with glandular margins, small trimerous actinomorphic flowers with floral organs in whorls, suggest an affinity with an early lineage of eudicots, likely within the Ranunculales. However, the absence of in situ pollen prevents definitive systematic assignment of the new taxon. Pollen analyses of dispersed taxa recovered from the same stratigraphic interval have revealed diverse angiosperm families, underscoring the complexity and increasing diversity of angiosperms in the mid-latitudes of South America during the Early Cretaceous.

  Stellula Puebla et Prámparo gen. nov.

Stellula meridionalis gen. et sp. nov.,

 

Gabriela G. Puebla and Mercedes B. Prámparo. 2025. Stellula meridionalis gen. et sp. nov., the Oldest Fossil Flower from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 339, 105350. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2025.105350 

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Caffapanax canessae & Davidsaralia christophae • Osmoxylon-like Fossils from early Eocene South America: West Gondwana–Malesia Connections in Araliaceae

Caffapanax canessae 

Wilf, 2025

DOI: doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70045

 

Abstract

Premise: Araliaceae comprise a moderately diverse, predominantly tropical angiosperm family with a limited fossil record. Gondwanan history of Araliaceae is hypothesized in the literature, but no fossils have previously been reported from the former supercontinent.

Methods: I describe large (to macrophyll size), palmately compound-lobed leaf fossils and an isolated umbellate infructescence from the early Eocene (52 Ma), late-Gondwanan paleorainforest flora at Laguna del Hunco in Argentine Patagonia.

Results: The leaf fossils are assigned to Caffapanax canessae gen. et sp. nov. (Araliaceae). Comparable living species belong to five genera that are primarily distributed from Malesia to South China. The most similar genus is Osmoxylon, which is centered in east Malesia and includes numerous threatened species. The infructescence is assigned to Davidsaralia christophae gen. et sp. nov. (Araliaceae) and is also comparable to Osmoxylon.

Conclusions: The Caffapanax leaves and Davidsaralia infructescence, potentially representing the same source taxon, are the oldest araliaceous macrofossils and provide direct evidence of Gondwanan history in the family. The new fossils and their large leaves enrich the well-established biogeographic and climatic affinities of the fossil assemblage with imperiled Indo-Pacific, everwet tropical rainforests. The fossils most likely represent shrubs or small trees, adding to the rich record of understory vegetation recovered from Laguna del Hunco.

Keywords: Araliaceae, biogeography, fossil rainforests, Laguna del Hunco, leaf architecture, Malesia, Osmoxylon, paleoconservation, Patagonia

Caffapanax canessae gen. et sp. nov., holotype, MPEF-Pb 10171a (see Figure 2A for counterpart). Specimen has five primary lobes, including a pair of reflexed basal lobes, a pair of lateral lobes each with one sublobe, and an expanded medial lobe with paired sublobes. Scale bar: 10 cm.

Caffapanax canessae gen. et sp. nov., holotype. (A) MPEF-Pb 10171b (counterpart, see Figure 1 for part). Scale bar: 10 cm. (B) Discovery photo with part and counterpart, Laguna del Hunco quarry LH04, 21 November 2006.

Family—Araliaceae Juss.

Genus— Caffapanax Wilf gen. nov.

 Caffapanax canessae Wilf sp. nov.  

Diagnosis—Petiole insertion marginal; base cordate. Blade size microphyll to macrophyll; length:width (L:W) ratio near or below 1:1. Primary veins basally actinodromous, regular, robust. Blade palmately lobed with three or five wide, convex primary lobes; lobe size increases markedly distally. When blade is five-lobed, the basal lobes reflexed, the next lateral lobe pair undivided or with one sublobe per lobe, and the medial lobe much larger than the laterals, with a prominent pair of pinnate sublobes. Margin serrate; teeth short, narrow, non-glandular. Major and minor secondary veins craspedodromous, terminating as tooth principal veins; fimbrial vein present. Higher-order venation well organized; areolation impressed in tiny quadrangular to pentagonal fields; freely ending veinlets absent.

Etymology—The new generic and specific epithets honor Técnicos Mariano Caffa and Leandro Canessa, respectively, of the MEF for their admirable record over more than two decades of fieldwork and fossil discovery in Patagonia. They continue to make significant contributions to paleontology, including the holotype of the new species (Figures 1, 2) unearthed by Téc. Caffa.

Genus—Davidsaralia Wilf gen. nov.

 Davidsaralia christophae Wilf sp. nov. 

 

Peter Wilf. 2025. Osmoxylon-like Fossils from early Eocene South America: West Gondwana–Malesia Connections in Araliaceae. American Journal of Botany. 112(6); e70045. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70045 [19 May 2025]

https://x.com/RadioGondwana/status/1924493718809108579

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Tarimochara miraclensis • Ordovician marine Charophyceae and insights into land plant derivations

 

Tarimochara miraclensis Liu, Wu & Riding, 
A palaeoecological illustrations of T. miraclensis in Late Ordovician marine carbonate platform environments

in Liu, Han, Zhang, Tang, Pang, Li, Wu, Hua, Guo, Cai et Riding, 2025. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02003-y 

Abstract

The emergence of land plants was a pivotal development in Earth history. It has been postulated that the evolutionary transition from freshwater streptophyte algae to land plants, or the canalization of plant meiosis, was completed during the Middle Ordovician (~460 Ma). However, the absence of undisputed streptophyte algal fossils (for example, Charophyceae) earlier than the late Silurian (~425 Ma) has obscured this link between streptophyte algae and land plants. Here we describe a marine Charophyceae fossil, Tarimochara miraclensis gen. et sp. nov., from early and middle Katian (Late Ordovician, ~453–449 Ma) marine limestones in northwestern China. This discovery demonstrates that at least some species of Charophyceae inhabited shallow normal marine environments at that time. Moreover, these early Charophyceae show that some key morphological innovations associated with an evolutionary transition between streptophyte algae and land plants had occurred before the early Katian. This provides crucial evidence relevant to the origins of land plants.

Morphological and palaeoecological reconstructions of Tarimochara miraclensis gen. et sp. nov.
a, A morphological reconstruction of T. miraclensis based on fossil specimens and present-day Charophyceae analogues, illustrating the differentiation of nodes and internodes (Inter.) of both main axis and branches, and of whorled branchlets; enlargement of T. miraclensis shows cortical (Cor.) cells of axis, branch, .... The rooting system, orders of branching, number of whorled branches and relative positions of gyrogonites (covered by probable utricle) and antheridium are inferred from the extant corticated genus Chara.
 b, A palaeoecological illustrations of T. miraclensis in Late Ordovician marine carbonate platform environments. The community composition is based on common associated taxa, for example, green and red algae, corals, bryozoans, and echinoderms. Credit: X. Liu.

 

Genus Tarimochara Liu, Wu & Riding gen. nov. 

 Tarimochara miraclensis Liu, Wu & Riding sp. nov.

Lijing Liu, Jian Han, Zhifei Zhang, Qing Tang, Ke Pang, Ruiyun Li, Yasheng Wu, Hong Hua, Bin Guo, Chunfang Cai and Robert Riding. 2025. Ordovician marine Charophyceae and insights into land plant derivations. Nature Plants. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02003-y [30 May 2025]

  x.com/NaturePlants/status/1928869309175992480 ||  http://rdcu.be/eoSkA

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Karkenia bracteata • A New Species of Karkenia (Ginkgoales: Karkeniaceae) from the Lower Jurassic of East Siberia (Russia): palaeobiogeographical and evolutionary implications

 

Karkenia bracteata

Frolov, Enushchenko & Mashchuk, 2025

DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70019

 x.com/ThePalAss

 

Abstract

The family Karkeniaceae is the most ancient of the Ginkgoales. It is known from the lower Permian to the Lower Cretaceous. Cladistic analysis has shown that Karkeniaceae represents a distinct lineage among the Mesozoic ginkgoaleans and is much closer to Trichopitys. However, the absence of the complex ovule shoots of ginkgoaleans with remains of ‘intercalated bracts’ in the palaeontological record makes it difficult to reconstruct the transformation series linking Trichopityaceae to Karkeniaceae. Here, we report Karkenia bracteata sp. nov. from the Lower Jurassic of East Siberia (Russia). We examined impressions and compressions using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Karkenia bracteata consists of the main axis bearing helically arranged bract–ovule complexes, each composed of a long laminar bract subtending and sheathing an ovule stalk with a single ovule. The presence of a bract distinguishes this species from all known Karkenia. However, the ovule structure, stomatal guard cells and megaspore membrane indicate that the new species belongs to Karkeniaceae. Karkenia could have evolved from Trichopitys due to reduction and condensation from an ancestral state. The ovulate short shoots must have fused to form a compact structure, while the main axis was strongly reduced. The leaves of such branches became reduced and further disappeared. Therefore, the leaves of the intermediate form between Trichopitys and Karkenia must have been bracts. Thus, K. bracteata corresponds to the hypothetical intermediate form linking Trichopityaceae to Karkeniaceae and confirms the hypothesis of the cone-like nature of Karkenia megastrobili.

Keywords: Trichopitys, Sphenobaiera, Ginkgoales, palaeobiogeography, compound seed cone, intercalated bract

Karkenia bracteata sp. nov. 

Andrey О. Frolov, Ilya V. Enushchenko and Irina M. Mashchuk. 2025. A New Species of Karkenia (Karkeniaceae, Ginkgoales) from the Lower Jurassic of East Siberia (Russia): palaeobiogeographical and evolutionary implications. Papers in Palaeontology. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70019 [02 June 2025]

 x.com/ThePalAss/status/1929929547681542238

[Paleontology • 2025] Megaglomerospora lealiae • A new fossil fungus (Glomeromycetes) from upper Carboniferous of Portugal: the Largest glomeromycotan fungal spores

 

Megaglomerospora lealiae

in Correia, Sá et Pereira, 2025.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.010 

 facebook.com: Pedro Correia

 

Highlights: 

• Fossil fungi discovered in the continental Carboniferous of Portugal.

• New fossil fungus is erected based on a dense cluster of unusual silicified large spores.

• Megaglomerospora lealiae is the first record of Glomeromycotan fungal spores from the Carboniferous of Iberia.

• Megaglomerospora lealiae represents the largest Glomeromycotan fungal spores documented so far.

• New insights on the diversity of the Glomeromycotan spores and the Carboniferous endomycorrhizal fungi.

Abstract

A new genus and species of fossil fungus, Megaglomerospora lealiae, is described from the Buçaco Carboniferous Basin (upper Stephanian C, Upper Pennsylvanian, upper Carboniferous), in central western Portugal. The new fossil fungus consists of a dense cluster of silicified large spores. These new fungal spores are oblong, subelliptical to subspherical-shaped, with a glabrous surface characterized by having a lipid-filled lumen, and display a strong septate-like hypha attached. The presence of lobe-shaped germination shields suggests close affinities to Diversisporales (Glomeromycota). Megaglomerospora lealiae nov. gen., nov. sp. is remarkably distinctive because it is by far the largest fossil fungal spore (∼1.6 mm long) documented for the phylum Glomeromycota. This is the first report of an endomycorrhizal‐like fungus from the Carboniferous of Iberia.

 

Systematic palaeomycology

Domain Eukaryota Chatton, 1925

Kingdom Fungi Moore, 1980

Division Glomeromycota Walker et Schüßler, 2004

Class Glomeromycetes Cavalier-Smith, 1998

Order Diversisporales Walker et Schüßler, 2004

Family Incertae sedis

Genus Megaglomerospora Correia, Sá et Pereira, nov.

 

Pedro Correia, Artur A. Sá and Zélia Pereira. 2025. Megaglomerospora lealiae nov. gen., nov. sp. from the upper Carboniferous of Portugal: the Largest glomeromycotan fungal spores. Geobios. 91; 1-9. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.010

  facebook.com/PedroCorreia372/posts/10237198422838704

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Zosterophyllum baoyangense • The smallest Zosterophyllum plant from the Lower Devonian of South China and the divergent life-history strategies in zosterophyllopsids

 

Zosterophyllum baoyangense Huang & Xue, 

in Huang, J.-S. Wang, Y.-L. Wang, Liu, Zhao et Xue. 2025. 

 DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2337

Abstract

Plants have evolved different life-history strategies to overcome limited amounts of available resources; however, when and how divergent strategies of sexual reproduction evolved in early land plants are not well understood. As one of the notable and vital components of early terrestrial vegetation, the Zosterophyllopsida and its type genus Zosterophyllum reached maximum species diversity during the Pragian (Early Devonian; ca 410.8–407.6 million years ago). Here we describe a new species, Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov., based on well-preserved specimens from the Pragian-aged Mangshan Group of Duyun, Guizhou Province, China. The new plant is characterized by its small size, K-shaped branching and tiny spikes with 5–10 sporangia. This plant is most likely r-selected, completing its whole lifespan in a short time, and such a strategy contributes to reproduction in a suitable window time. In contrast, most other species of Zosterophyllum and the zosterophyllopsids on a broader scale are larger in body size and have greater investments in fertile tissues, reflected in the size and total number of sporangia. We argue that the zosterophyllopsids probably benefited from the divergence of various life-history strategies and thus constituted a major part of the Early Devonian floras.

Keywords: early land plants, Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov., Early Devonian, life-history strategies

  Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov. (a,b) PB203562, part and counterpart, showing a fertile axis with K-shaped branching and a terminal spike. Arrows highlight branching points. The parts indicated by arrows c and d are enlarged in (c,d), respectively; (c) K-shaped branching; (d) branching point showing a nearby protuberance (arrow); (e,f) Enlarged view of the terminal spike in (a) and (b); (g) enlarged view of the basal part of the spike in (e). Arrow points to the margin of the basal sporangium. (h) Enlargement of the distal sporangia in (f) (arrow h), showing dehiscence line (white arrow) and peripheral rim along the convex distal margin (the area between two black arrows). Scale bars: (a,b), 10 mm; (c–f), 1 mm; (g,h), 0.5 mm.

 Systematic palaeontology

Class: Zosterophyllopsida Hao & Xue [2013]

Order: Zosterophyllales Hao & Xue [2013]

Family: Zosterophyllaceae Banks [1968]

Genus: Zosterophyllum Penhallow [1892]

Type species Z. myretonianum Penhallow [1892]

Zosterophyllum baoyangense Huang & Xue sp. nov.

Specific diagnoses. Rhizome with K-shaped branching. Erect axis with tiny spikes. Axes 0.5−1.3 mm wide. Spikes, 5.8−10.8 mm high and 2.0−2.8 mm in maximum width, consisting of 5–10 sporangia that are spirally arranged. Sporangia oval to semicircular, 1.6−2.0 mm high and 0.9−1.4 mm wide, departing from axis at an acute angle by a short stalk. Thin peripheral rim ca 80 μm wide, extending along the convex distal margin and lacking thickened dehiscence mechanism.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from Baoyang Village, where the fossils were collected.

Holotype designated herein. PB203562 

 Artist’s restoration of part of the Early Devonian Mangshan flora, with plant communities of Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov. at the front, and Teyoua antrorsa, Zosterophyllum australianum and an unnamed zosterophyllopsid to the back.

Locality and horizon. Baoyang Section, Baoyang Village, Duyun City, Guizhou Province; the lower part of the Mangshan Group; Early Devonian (Pragian; see electronic supplementary material, figure S1).

Repository. All specimens are deposited at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Pu Huang, Jia-Shu Wang, Yi-Ling Wang, Lu Liu, Jing-Yu Zhao and Jin-Zhuang Xue. 2025. The smallest Zosterophyllum plant from the Lower Devonian of South China and the divergent life-history strategies in zosterophyllopsids. Proc. R. Soc. B. 292; 20242337. DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2337

 

 

[PaleoBotany • 2024] Phoenicites insula-lacuna • A fossil pinnate palm leaf (Arecaceae: Arecoideae) from Island Lagoon, in the arid zone of South Australia

 

Phoenicites insula-lacuna D.R.Greenw. & Conran, 

in Greenwood et Conran, 2024.

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2403591 

ABSTRACT

Fossil pinnate palm leaves (Arecaceae, subfam. Arecoideae) are described from the Eocene or Miocene Island Lagoon fossil site near Woomera in the arid zone of South Australia. These leaves are described as a new species, Phoenicites insula-lacuna and shown to share morphological similarities to the extant genus Archontophoenix (subtr. Archontophoenicinae), endemic to eastern Australia. This fossil record constitutes a significant temporal and geographic range extension for Archontophoenicinae and likely Archontophoenix. The presence in Australia of Archontophoenicinae as early as the Eocene or more likely Miocene, is in accordance with molecular analyses that propose dispersal of this clade into Australia from New Guinea, with subsequent dispersal from Australia to New Caledonia and divergence of the Archontophoenix and Chambeyronia lineages during this interval of time. Previously reported co-occurring myrtaceous woody fruits from Island Lagoon and proximal-coeval silcrete floras previously referred to Angophora, Callistemon, Eucalyptus, Melaleuca and fossils of other sclerophyllous taxa such as Banksia are consistent with this palm being part of a landscape mosaic with riparian rainforest that included mesic plants growing within wider sclerophyllous forest or woodland vegetation comparable to the eastern coastal zone of modern-day Australia and the modern range of Archontophoenix.

KEYWORDS: Palm, Arecaceae, paleogene–neogene, Australia, Archontophoenix, silcrete macrofloras

Phoenicites insula-lacuna sp. nov. 
(A) Holotype P14209 showing whole specimen. (B) Paratype (P14467) with midvein at arrow. (C) Detail showing asymmetry of pinnae base (P14209). (D, E) Detail of mid-pinnae showing midvein and secondary veins (P14209). (F) Rachis (P14209) showing patterned surface corresponding to ‘brown spots’ similar to those of extant Archontophoenix spp. (G) Detail of mid-pinnae with arrow showing midvein (P14467).

Scale bars in cm. All photos by John G. Conran.

Order: Arecales Bromhead (1840)

Family Arecaceae Bercht. et Presl (1820), nom. cons. et nom. alt.

Subfamily Arecoideae Burnett (1835)

Fossil genus Phoenicites Brongn. emend Read and Hickey (Citation1972)

Type species Phoenicites pumila Brongniart, 1828, 

from the Eocene Brives region of France.

Phoenicites insula-lacuna D.R.Greenw. & Conran, sp. nov.  

Diagnosis: Pinnate leaf with 11 or more pinnae per side. Rachis straight, rounded, minutely tuberculate or dotted. Pinnae linear-lanceolate, subopposite, reduplicate, inserted in a single plane along the rachis at acute angles (17–34°; n = 10), with 6–8 prominent lateral secondary veins and narrower at the base than medially; bases asymmetrical, broader basioscopically.

Etymology: The specific epithet is derived from the Latin for Island Lagoon, the fossil’s locality.

Location: Unnamed Tertiary unit at the decommissioned Island Lagoon tracking station, South Australia (31° 23′S, 136° 53′E, 139 m).

David R. Greenwood and John G. Conran. 2024. A fossil pinnate palm leaf (Arecaceae, subfam. Arecoideae) from Island Lagoon, in the arid zone of South Australia. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2403591   

[PaleoBotany • 2025] Palaeopteridium andrenelii • A New noeggerathialean Species from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Portugal with new insights on the Noeggerathiales

 Palaeopteridium andrenelii  

 Correia & Góis-Marques, 2025 

DOI: doi.org/10.1017/S0016756824000438  

 

Abstract

Noeggerathiales were until recently a group of plants with uncertain systematic position that existed in the Carboniferous and Permian times. Recent discoveries classify them as heterosporous progymnosperms. Despite the discovery of additional specimens, the group still remains highly artificial because their reproductive organs are rarely preserved in organic connection. Within the Carboniferous of Iberian Massif, the noeggerathialeans are poorly represented. Here, we describe Palaeopteridium andrenelii sp. nov. from the uppermost Carboniferous of Portugal. This is the second representative of Noeggerathiales reported in the Portuguese Carboniferous after Carlos Teixeira have described the noeggerathialean Rhacopteris gomesiana in the 1940s from Douro Carboniferous Basin (Stephanian C/lower Gzhelian, Upper Pennsylvanian). Palaeopteridium andrenelii was found in upper Asturian (upper Moscovian, Middle Pennsylvanian) strata from the classical Westphalian outcrops of Ervedosa, located in the region of Alto da Serra (Fânzeres), Gondomar, in northwestern Portugal. Two reproductive structures are associated with the frond of the new fossil species. Although not organically linked, both structures could belong to parent plant (frond) and represent possible detached macrosporangia. This reenforces the Palaeopteridium as a noeggerathialean and the first reproductive structures found for this genus.

Keywords: Palaeopteridium, Noeggerathiales, macrosporangia, Ervedosa flora, upper Asturian (upper Moscovian; Middle Pennsylvanian), Gondomar, Portugal

 Holotype MGUTAD-1121 of Palaeopteridium andrenelii sp. nov. from the Ervedosa’s outcrops (upper Westphalian D/upper Asturian, Middle Pennsylvanian) of the road Dom Miguel, Seixo (Fânzeres) region, Gondomar, northwestern Portugal.
1 – General view of the holotype (white arrows indicate a very developed petiole-like, a possible penultimate rachis). 2–3 – Enlargement of rectangular boxes in Figure 1, showing details of foliage (white arrows indicate the petiolate attachment of the pinnules on an ultimate rachis). 4 – Enlargement of rectangular box in Figure 1, displaying a putative ‘noeggerathialean’ macrosporangium with a probable micropyle (highlighted in dashed white circle). 5 – Putative ‘noeggerathialean’ macrosporangium, exhibiting a multicelled gametophyte extending from ruptured spore wall (white arrows) (holotype counterpart; see Plate II, 2B).

Division: †Progymnospermophyta Bold et al.

Class: †Noeggerathiopsida Kryshtofovich

Order: †Noeggerathiales Nĕmejc emend. Wang et al. (2021)

Fossil-family: Discinitaceae Zhifeng & Thomas

Fossil-genus: Palaeopteridium Kidston (1923)

Type species: Palaeopteridium reussii (Ettingshausen) Kidston (1923) from Westphalian Series of the Carboniferous Rocks of Great Britain.

Basionym: Asplenites reussii Ettingshausen (Ettingshausen, 1852), ‘Steinkohlenflora von Stradonitz in Böhmen’, Ablandl. K.K. geol. Reichsanst., Band I, Abth. 3, No. 4, p. 16, pl. I, Figures 8, 9 (Kidston, Reference Kidston1923, p. 201)

Palaeopteridium andrenelii sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Bipinnate frond with subopposite or alternate pinnules, relatively symmetrical and spaced, sometimes touching or slightly overlapping, obliquely attached to an ultimate rachis by a very narrow base (1.5–2.0 mm long and 0.8–1.0 mm wide) − petiolate attachment. Ultimate rachis very thin, straight or slightly flexuous, detached from a possible penultimate rachis. Fan-shaped (flabelliform or semiflabelliform type) pinnules, of 7–8 mm long and a maximum fan width of about 5−6 mm, with entire lateral and crenate/lobed distal margins. Distal margins bearing irregular and asymmetrical 12−14 crenate-shaped teeth/lobes of about 0.3−1.0 mm long. Venation pattern of open dichotomous showing a single vein entering each pinnule, giving rise to a series of radiating veinlets of equal strength which in their course to the margin divide three or four times. There are 14–20 veins on distal margin of pinnule.

Etymology. The specific name ‘andrenelii’ honours André Nel from Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), a world expert in palaeoentomology and honourable colleague who has been cooperating with us on the systematic study of new insect fossils recently described in the Douro and Buçaco Basins (Loureiro et al. 2010; Correia et al. 2014 b; Correia et al. 2021 c; Correia & Nel, 2023; Correia et al. 2023 c).

Type locality. Outcrops located in the northeast banks of road Dom Miguel, Seixo (Fânzeres) region, Gondomar, northwestern Portugal (Fig. 1).

Type horizon and age. Horizon composed of laminated and compact grey shales; late Westphalian D (late Asturian/late Moscovian, Middle Pennsylvanian).

Pedro Correia and Carlos A. Góis-Marques. 2025. Palaeopteridium andrenelii sp. nov., A New noeggerathialean Species from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Portugal with new insights on the Noeggerathiales. Geological Magazine. 162, e1. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/S0016756824000438  

[PaleoBotany • 2023] Bauhinia tibetensis • The Oldest Fossil Record of Bauhinia s.s. (Fabaceae) from the Tibetan Plateau sheds light on its Evolutionary and Biogeographic Implications

  

 Bauhinia tibetensis Y. Gao & T. Su, 
 

in Gao, Song, Deng, Chen, Liu, ... et Su, 2023. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2023.2244495 

english.CAS.cn

Abstract

Bauhinia s.s. is a large genus in the family Fabaceae, but its evolutionary and biogeographical history is still unclear due to the scarcity of fossil records compared to the highly diverse modern species in pantropic regions. Here, we report the earliest fossil record of Bauhinia s.s., namely Bauhinia tibetensis Y. Gao et T. Su sp. nov., based on leaves from the latest Paleocene of the southern Tibetan region. Combined with palaeoecological niche simulations and ancestral state reconstruction, the new fossils suggested a Paleocene origin of Bauhinia s.s. in the Afrotropical realm that subsequently dispersed to the Neotropical and Indomalayan realms. Bauhinia tibetensis belongs to the Asian clade of Bauhinia s.s. that reached the southern Tibetan region from the Afrotropical realm via the Kohistan-Ladakh Island Arc in the early Paleocene. This clade spread to south-eastern China during the Oligocene and entered northern India during the Neogene or earlier. The discovery of the oldest Bauhinia s.s. from what is now the southern Tibetan Plateau updates our understanding of the biogeographical history of this genus and demonstrates that the Kohistan-Ladakh Island Arc is an ancient corridor for floristic interchange between Africa and India.

Keywords: Bauhinia s.s., biogeography, diversification, Paleocene, leaf fossil, palaeoecological niche simulations

 

Yi Gao, Ai Song, Wei-Yu-Dong Deng, Lin-Lin Chen, Jia Liu, Wei-Cheng Li, Gaurav Srivastava, Robert A. Spicer, Zhe-Kun Zhou and Tao Su. 2023. The Oldest Fossil Record of Bauhinia s.s. (Fabaceae) from the Tibetan Plateau sheds light on its Evolutionary and Biogeographic Implications. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 21(1); 2244495. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2023.2244495

 english.CAS.cn/newsroom/research_news/life/202311/t20231101_467162.shtml

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[PaleoBotany • 2023] First Recognition of the Extinct Eudicot Genus Palibinia in North America: Leaves and Fruits of Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. from the Eocene of Utah and Colorado, USA

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. 

in Manchester, Judd et Kodrul, 2023. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jse.13011

 

Abstract

Newly investigated leafy twigs bearing axillary fruits from the Eocene Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation in eastern Utah, USA, have provided more information on the species previously attributed to the Proteaceae as Banksia comptonifolia R.W.Br. The leaves are simple, estipulate with short petioles, and elongate laminae with prominent angular nonglandular teeth. The laminae have a thick midvein and pinnate craspedodromous secondaries, and are distinctive in the presence of a thick, often coalified, marginal rim. Vegetative and reproductive buds occur in the axils of the leaves. These features indicate that the species belongs to Palibinia Korovin—an extinct Eudicot genus previously known only from the Paleogene of Asia and Europe. Small pedicellate ovoid fruits 1.5–2.2 mm wide are borne in fascicles of three and are seen to be capsules with four apical valves. Despite the specific epithet referring to similarity of the foliage to that of Comptonia (Myricaceae), the fasciculate inflorescence organization with axillary flowers is quite distinct from the catkins characteristic of that family. Assignment to Banksia or other Proteaceae with complex inflorescences and follicular fruits is also problematic. Additionally, MacGinitie′s transfer of the species to Vauquelinia of the Rosaceae is contradicted by the lack of stipule scars on the twig and by differences in leaf venation and floral morphology. We transfer the species to Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov., but its familial affinity within the Pentapetalae remains uncertain. This new occurrence augments records from the Paleogene of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, China, England, and Germany.

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. leafy twigs in a slab of shale from Bonanza, UT. DMNH EPI.43698.
A, Portions of three twigs showing alternate leaves. B, Enlargement of a twig with mature leaves giving rise to a flush of new growth. C, Another portion of a twig enlarged from (A), showing the axillary position of young fruits. D, Enlargement from (C), with pedicellate axillary globose fruits. E, Enlargement from another twig in (A), showing an axillary fruit.

F–H, Individual twigs digitally extricated from the image of (A). 

Scale bars = 2 cm in (A), (F–H), 1 cm in (B, C), 5 mm in (D, E).

Systematics

Group Pentapetalae D.E. Soltis, P.S. Soltis & W.S. Judd

Order indet.

Family indet.

Genus Palibinia Korovin

Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov.

Conceptual diagrams of Palibinia twigs.
A, B, Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. twigs including axillary fruits and vegetative growth, diagram by Ashley Hamersma.
C–E, Original diagrams of Korovin (1932), slightly enhanced and reduced. C, Twig of Palibinia laxifolia Forma laxifolia showing axillary flowers or fruits. D, Forma densifolia. E, Forma lanceolata.

 

Steven R. Manchester, Walter S. Judd and Tatiana Kodrul. 2023. First Recognition of the Extinct Eudicot Genus Palibinia in North America: Leaves and Fruits of Palibinia comptonifolia (R.W.Br.) comb. nov. from the Eocene of Utah and Colorado, USA. Journal of Systematics and Evolution. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jse.13011

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