Arlenea delicata gen.et sp.nov.,a new ephedroid plant from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation,Araripe Basin,Northeast Brazil  

作　　者：Alita Maria Neves Ribeiro Yong Yang Antonio Alamo Feitosa Saraiva Renan Alfredo Machado Bantim Joao Tavares Calixto Junior Flaviana Jorge de Lima 

机构地区：[1]Programa de Pos-Graduaçao em Diversidade Biologica e Recursos Naturais,Universidade Regional do Cariri,Rua Carolino Sucupira,Pimenta,63105-160,Crato,Ceara,Brazil [2]Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China,College of Biology and the Environment,159 Longpan Road,Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing,210037,China [3]Laboratorio de Paleontologia,Universidade Regional do Cariri,Rua Carolino Sucupira,Pimenta,63105-160,Crato,Ceara,Brazil [4]Laboratorio de Estudos da Flora Regional,Universidade Regional do Cariri,Rua Carolino Sucupira,Pimenta,63105-160,Crato,Ceara,Brazil [5]Gondwanan Plants Lab,Universidade Federal de Pernambuco,Centro Academico de Vitoria,Rua Do Alto Reservatorio S/n,Bela Vista,55608-680,Vitoria de Santo Antao,Pernambuco,Brazil [6]Programa de Pos-Graduaçao em Geociencias(PPGEOC),Universidade Federal de Pernambuco(UFPE),Rua Av.da Arquitetura,S/n°CEP-50740-550,Cidade Universitaria,Recife,Pernambuco,Brazil

出　　处：《Plant Diversity》2024年第3期362-371,共10页植物多样性（英文版）

基　　金：the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico CNPq Processo n°406902/2022e4(INCT PALEOVERT);Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES for the financial support grant to A.M.N.Ribeiro(88887520216/2020e00);the Fundaçao Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico-FUNCAP for the financial support grant to R.A.M.Bantim(#BMD-0124-00302.01.01/19);A.A.F.Saraiva(#BP3-013900202.01.00/18).

摘　　要：Ephedroid macrofossils have been widely documented in Cretaceous deposits,including numerous from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of NE China.However,few ephedroid macrofossils have been reported from South America.Herein,we describe a new plant of the family Ephedraceae,Arlenea delicata gen.et sp.nov.,from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin,Northeast Brazil,based on the vegetative and reproductive structures.It has the typical morphological characteristics of ephedroid plants,including fertile reproductive branches,opposite phyllotaxy,terminal female cones,a sympodial branching system,longitudinally striated internodes,and swollen nodes.Our new finding is unusual in having inner chlamydosperms subtended by two pairs of bracts,reproductive units connected to branches through swollen receptacles and a smooth seed surface.This new ephedroid taxon from the Crato Formation increases our understanding of plant diversity of this group during the Early Cretaceous.Furthermore,the general morphology(fleshy bracts and enlarged receptacles)of this new fossil discovery indicates that seeds of this plant may have been dispersed by animals such as pterosaurs(mainly the Tapejaridae)and birds(Enantiornithes and Ornituromorpha).If true,this would explain the cosmopolitan distribution of Ephedraceae in the Lower Cretaceous.

关 键 词：Early Cretaceous Gnetophytes Arlenea delicata Ephedrales Crato Formation 

分 类 号：Q948[生物学—植物学]