| Citation: |
Qiang Fu, José B. Diez, Mike Pole, Manuel García-Ávila, Xin Wang, 2020. Nanjinganthus is an angiosperm, isn’t it?, China Geology, 3, 359-361. doi: 10.31035/cg2020005
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Nanjinganthus is an angiosperm, isn’t it?
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Abstract
Nanjinganthus is an Early Jurassic angiosperm recognized based on the study of over 200 specimens. However, some other authors have misinterpreted these fossils. Here the authors try to remedy the problems, by pointing out the logical pitfalls in these publications and underscoring a long-used, workable criterion for early angiosperms. The paper explains the cons and pros of this criterion, hoping to bring palaeobotany and plant taxonomy back to a consistent and practical track. Nanjinganthus is an angiosperm.
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References
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Qiang Fu, José B. Diez, Mike Pole, Manuel García-Ávila, Xin Wang, 2020. Nanjinganthus is an angiosperm, isn’t it?, China Geology, 3, 359-361. doi: 10.31035/cg2020005
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Figure 1.
Top views of Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, showing an ovary with ovarian roof removed and two seeds inside (a), another ovary with ovarian roof partially removed and only one seed visible (b), and a coalified flower with intact ovarian roof and no seeds visible (c). d−the intact integral ovarian roof of the flower in rectangle in c, with a style scar (white circle) on the top of the complete and intact ovarian roof. e−the reconstruction of Nanjinganthus. 1−branches of dendroid style; 2−dendroid style; 3−sepal; 4−ovarian roof; 5−scale; 6−seed; 7−cup-form receptacle/ovary; 8−bract; 9−petal; 10−unknown organ (staminode?). Scale bar = 1 mm in a, b, c, and scale bar = 0.2 mm in d. Reproduced from figures (Figs. 4c, 5h, 6f, 6l, 11) of Fu Q et al. (2018) published on eLife under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC BY 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).