How diverse were ferns in the Baltic amber forest?  

作　　者：Eva-Maria Sadowski Leyla J. Seyfullah Ledis Regalado Laura E. Skadell Alexander Gehler Carsten Grohn Christel Hoffeins Hans Werner Hoffeins Christian Neumann Harald Schneider Alexander R. Schmidt 

机构地区：[1]Department of Geobiology, University of Gttingen, Goldschmidtstrae 3, 37077 Gttingen, Germany [2]Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrae 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany [3]Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrae 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria [4]Institute of Ecology and Systematics, Varona 11835, 11900 Havana, Cuba [5]Geoscience Museum, University of G ttingen, Goldschmidtstrae 3, 37077 G ttingen, Germany [6]Amber Study Group, c/o Geological‐Palaeontological Institute and Museum (CeNak) of the University of Hamburg, Bundesstrae 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany [7]Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Menglun 666303, Yunnan, China

出　　处：《Journal of Systematics and Evolution》2019年第4期305-328,共24页植物分类学报（英文版）

摘　　要：Diverse temperate forest types and a high atmospheric humidity have recently been suggested for the Eocene source area of Baltic amber. However, ferns are astonishingly rare as inclusions in this amber, which is in contrast to other seed‐free land plants, fungi, and lichens. Moreover, the identities of some of the few described putative fern taxa are dubious, and some fossils were even assigned to the Paleozoic seed fern genera Alethopteris, Pecopteris and to the form genus Sphenopteris containing Paleozoic and Mesozoic fern‐like leaf fossils. Here, we review previously described fern inclusions from Baltic amber and identify further fern‐like leaf inclusions as belonging to the extant angiosperm genus Comptonia (sweet ferns, Myricaceae). We conclude that only one taxon, Matonia striata (Matoniaceae), can with confidence be identified as a Polypodiopsida representative. Although “Pecopteris” humboldtiana is so far only known as sterile foliage, its leaf morphology strongly suggests that also this taxon belongs to the Polypodiopsida rather than to any other tracheophyte lineage. We propose accommodating “Pecopteris” humboldtiana in the new genus Berendtiopteris.“Alethopteris” serrata and “Sphenopteris” phyllocladoides are not to be regarded as evidence of ferns from Baltic amber. Reinvestigation of the holotypes of these two taxa did not reveal to which tracheophyte lineages these fossils belong. We suggest that the scarcity of fern remains from Baltic amber may reflect both a relatively low fern diversity in the source area of the fossil resin, and an absence or rarity of epiphytic and climbing ferns as observed in modern temperate forest ecosystems.

关 键 词：Alethopteris SERRATA BALTIC amber FOREST Berendtiopteris Comptonia Eocene Matonia striata Matoniaceae MYRICACEAE PALEOGENE Pecopteris humboldtiana Sphenopteris phyllocladoides 

分 类 号：Q[生物学]