Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-25T21:18:54.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Arguments for a glossopterid ancestry of angiosperms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Greg Retallack  and
David L. Dilcher
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Almost every living and fossil group of gymnosperms has been proposed as a possible ancestor of angiosperms. A common problem with many of these proposals is their reliance on hypothetical intermediate forms. Another common problem is finding correctly-oriented organs homologous to all the important reproductive structures of angiosperms.

These problems are least troublesome for a glossopterid origin of angiosperms. Recently discovered ovule-bearing organs of these plants may represent evolutionary intermediates, or analogous plants, between glossopterids and angiosperms. According to recent reinterpretations of glossopterid ovule-bearing organs, they have structures in an orientation which may be homologous with both the outer ovular integument and the carpel of angiosperms. Considering the reproductive and vegetative features of glossopterids, the hypothesis that they may be part of a stock ancestral to angiosperms should be seriously considered.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , Winter 1981 , pp. 54 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Archangelsky, S. 1968. Studies on Triassic fossil plants from Argentina. IV. The leaf genus Dicroidium and its possible relation to Rhexoxylon stems. Paleontology. 11: 500–512.Google Scholar
Archangelsky, S. and Brett, D. W. 1961. Studies on Triassic fossil plants from Argentina. I. Rhexoxylon from the Ischigualasto Formation. R. Soc. Lond. Philos. Trans. B244:1–19.Google Scholar
Axelrod, D. I. 1952. A theory of angiosperm evolution. Evolution. 6: 29–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Axelrod, D. I. 1960. The evolution of flowering plants. pp. 227–305. In: Tax, S., ed. Evolution after Darwin. Vol. 1. The Evolution of Life. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Bailey, I. W. 1944. The comparative morphology of the Winteraceae. III. Wood. Arnold Arbor. J. 25: 97–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, I. W. and Nast, C. G. 1945. Morphology and relationships of Trochodendron and Tetracentron. I. Stem, root and leaf. Arnold Arbor. J. 26: 143–154.Google Scholar
Bailey, I. W. and Nast, C. G. 1948. Morphology and relationships of Illicium, Schisandra and Kadsura. Arnold Arbor. J. 29: 77–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, M. 1971. Studies on the cuticular structure of Glossopteris tortuosa Zeiller, with remarks on the identification of the species. Seminar Palaeopalynology and Indian Stratigraphy, Dept. of Botany, Calcutta, Proc.:35–41.Google Scholar
Banerjee, M. 1973. Glossopteridean fructifications: 1. Dictyopteridium sporiferum. Bot. Soc. Bengal Bull. 27: 77–84.Google Scholar
Banerjee, M. 1978. Glossopteridean fructifications: 2. On the revision of Ottokaria Zeiller and the occurrence of O. raniganjensis Banerjee from the Raniganj Formation (Upper Permian) of India. Indian J. Earth Sci. 5: 129–140.Google Scholar
Baranova, M. 1972. Systematic anatomy of the leaf epidermis in the Magnoliaceae and some related families. Taxon 21: 447–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, C. B. 1971. Problems of generic delimitation in paleobotany. North Am. Paleontol. Conv. Proc. 1: 173–193.Google Scholar
Brenner, G. J. 1967. The gymnospermous affinities of Eucommiidites Erdtman 1948. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 5: 123–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlquist, S. 1975. Ecological Strategies of Xylem Evolution. Univ. California Press; Berkeley, Los Angeles and London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpentier, A. 1935. Études paléobotaniques sur le groupe de la Sakoa et de la Sakamena (Madagascar). Géol. Serv. Mines Madagascar Ann. 5: 7–32.Google Scholar
Chaloner, W. G. 1976. The evolution of adaptive features in fossil exines. pp. 1–14. In: Ferguson, I. K. and Muller, J., eds. The Evolutionary Significance of the Exine. Academic Press; London.Google Scholar
Chaloner, W. G. and Lacey, W. S. 1973. The distribution of Late Paleozoic floras. pp. 271–289. In: Hughes, N. F., ed. Organisms and Continents through Time. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 12.Google Scholar
Chaloner, W. G. and Meyen, S. V. 1973. Carboniferous and Permian floras of the northern continents. pp. 169–186. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Paleobiogeography. Elsevier; Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, C. J. 1919. The Living Cycads. Hafner; New York and London.Google Scholar
Chandra, S. and Surange, K. R. 1977. Cuticular studies of the reproductive organs of Glossopteris. Part III. Two new female fructifications—Jambadostrobus and Venustostrobus—borne on Glossopteris leaves. Paleontographica. B164: 127–152.Google Scholar
Cornet, B. 1977. Angiosperm-like pollen with tectate columellate wall structure from the Upper Triassic (and Jurassic) of the Newark Supergroup, U.S.A. 10th Ann. Meet. Am. Assoc. Stratigr. Palynol. Abstr.: 8–9.Google Scholar
Crepet, W. L. 1974. Investigations of North American cycadeoids: the reproductive biology of Cycadeoidea. Paleontographica. B148: 144–169.Google Scholar
Cronquist, A. 1968. The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants. Houghton Mifflin Co.; Boston.Google Scholar
David, T. W. E. 1907. Geology of the Hunter River Coal Measures. Geol. Surv. N.S.W. Mem. Geol. 4: 1–372.Google Scholar
den Hartog-van ter Tholen, R. M. and Baas, P. 1978. Epidermal character of the Celastraceae sensu lato. Acta Bot. Neerl. 27: 355–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dilcher, D. L. 1979. Early angiosperm reproduction. pp. 291–328. In: Taylor, T. N., Dilcher, D. L., and Delevoryas, T., eds. Plant Reproduction in the Fossil Record, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 27.Google Scholar
Dilcher, D. L., Crepet, W. L., Beeker, C. D., and Reynolds, H. C. 1976. Reproductive and vegetative morphology of a Cretaceous angiosperm. Science. 191: 854–856.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doyle, J. 1945. Developmental lines in pollination mechanism in the Coniferales. R. Dublin Soc. Sci. Proc. 24: 43–62.Google Scholar
Doyle, J. A. 1978. Origin of angiosperms. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 9: 365–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doyle, J. A., Biens, P., Doerenkamp, A., and Jardiné, S. 1977. Angiosperm pollen from the pre-Albian Lower Cretaceous of equatorial Africa. Cent. Rech. Explor.-Prod. Elf-Aquitaine Bull. 1: 451–473.Google Scholar
Doyle, J. A. and Hickey, L. J. 1976. Pollen and leaves from the mid-Cretaceous Potomac Group and their bearing on early angiosperm evolution. pp. 139–206. In: Beck, C. B., ed. Origin and Early Evolution of Angiosperms. Columbia Univ. Press; New York.Google Scholar
Eames, A. J. and MacDaniels, L. H. 1947. An introduction to Plant Anatomy. McGraw-Hill; New York and London.Google Scholar
Etheridge, R. 1899. On a fern (Blechnoxylon talbragarense), with secondary wood, forming a new genus from the Coal Measures of the Talbragar district, New South Wales. Aust. Mus. Rec. 3: 125–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faegri, K. and van der Pijl, L. 1966. The Principles of Pollination Ecology. Pergamon Press; Oxford.Google Scholar
Feistmantel, O. 1882. The fossil flora of the Gondwana System. Flora of the South Rewa Gondwana basin. Paleontol. Indica. 12(4): 1–66.Google Scholar
Gould, R. E. 1975. A preliminary report on petrified axes of Vertebraria from the Permian of eastern Australia. pp. 109–123. In: Campbell, K. S. W., ed. Gondwana Geology. Aust. Nat. Univ. Press; Canberra.Google Scholar
Gould, R. E. and Delevoryas, T. 1977. The biology of Glossopteris: evidence from petrified seed-bearing and pollen-bearing organs. Alcheringa. 1: 387–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heslop-Harrison, J. 1957. The experimental modification of sex expression in flowering plants. Biol. Rev. 32: 38–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickey, L. J. and Doyle, J. A. 1977. Early Cretaceous fossil evidence for angiosperm evolution. Bot. Rev. 43: 3–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
H⊘eg, O. A. and Bose, M. N. 1960. The Glossopteris flora of the Belgian Congo, with a note on some fossil plants from the Zambesi Basin (Mozambique). Mus. R. Congo Beige, Tuerven, Ann. Ser., Sci. Geol. 32: 1–107.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. B. K. 1974. On some fructifications of the Glossopteridales from the upper Permian of N.S.W. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Proc. 98: 131–141.Google Scholar
Hughes, N. F. 1961. Further interpretation of Eucommiidites Erdtman 1948. Palaeontology. 4: 292–299.Google Scholar
Hughes, N. F. 1976. Palaeobiology of Angiosperm Origins. Cambridge Univ. Press; Cambridge.Google Scholar
Jardiné, S., Doerenkamp, A., and Biens, P. 1974. Dicheiropollis etruscus, un pollen characteristique du Crétacé inferieur Afro-Sudamérican, conséquences pour l'eváluation des unités climatiques et implications dans la derive des continents. Sci. Geol. Strasbourg. Bull. 27: 87–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jardiné, S., Kieser, G., and Reyre, Y. 1974. L'individualization progressive du continent africain vue à travers les données palynologiques de l'ère secondare. Sci. Geol. Strasbourg. Bull. 27: 69–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, D. R. 1973. The problem of leaf morphology and evolution in the monocotyledons. Q. Rev. Biol. 48: 437–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krassilov, V. A. 1973. Climatic changes in eastern Asia as indicated by fossil floras. I. Early Cretaceous. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoec. 13: 261–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krassilov, V. A. 1977. The origin of angiosperms. Bot. Rev. 43: 143–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kräusel, R., Maithy, P. K., and Maheshwari, H. K. 1962. Gymnospermous woods with primary structures from Gondwana rocks—a review. Palaeobotanist. 10: 97–107.Google Scholar
Lacey, W. S., Van Dijk, D. E., and Gordon-Gray, K. D. 1975. Fossil plants from the Upper Permian in the Mooi River district of Natal, South Africa. Natal Mus. Ann. 22: 349–420.Google Scholar
Lele, K. M. and Makada, R. 1974. Palaeobotanical evidences on the age of the coal-bearing Lower Gondwana Formation in the Jayanti Coalfield, Bihar. Palaeobotanist. 21: 81–106.Google Scholar
Lepekhina, V. G. 1972. Woods of Palaeozoic pycnoxylic gymnosperms, with special reference to North Eurasian representatives. Palaeontographica. B138: 44–106.Google Scholar
Long, A. G. 1977. Lower Carboniferous pteridosperm cupules and the origin of the angiosperms. R. Soc. Edinb. Trans. 70: 37–61.Google Scholar
Maheshwari, H. K. 1972. Permian wood from Antarctica and revision of some Lower Gondwana wood taxa. Palaeontographica. B138: 1–43.Google Scholar
Maheshwari, H. K. 1976. Floristics of the Permian and Triassic Gondwanas of India. Palaeobotanist. 23: 145–160.Google Scholar
Maheshwari, P. 1950. An Introduction to Embryology of the Angiosperms. McGraw-Hill; New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maheshwari, P. and Vasil, V. 1961. Botanical Monograph No. 1. Gnetum. Council Scientific and Industrial Research; New Delhi.Google Scholar
Maithy, P. K. 1965. Studies in the Glossopteris flora of India. 26. Glossopteridales from the Karharbari Beds, Giridh Coalfield, India. Palaeobotanist. 13: 248–262.Google Scholar
McWilliam, J. R. 1958. The role of the micropyle in pollination. Bot. Gaz. 120: 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meeuse, A. D. J. 1975. Floral evolution as a key to angiosperms descent. Acta Bot. Indica. 3: 1–18.Google Scholar
Melville, R. 1962. A new theory of the angiosperm flower. Kew Bull. 16: 1–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melville, R. 1969. Leaf venation patterns and the origin of the angiosperms. Nature. 224: 121–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyen, S. V. 1969. New data on the relationship between Angara and Gondwana Late Palaeozoic floras. Proc. 1st I.U.G.S. Gondwana Symp., Buenos Aires (publ. by U.N.E.S.C.O., Paris):139–157.Google Scholar
Negi, S. S. and Olmo, H. P. 1966. Sex conversion in a male Vitis vinifera by kinin. Science. 152: 1624–1625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pant, D. D. 1977. The plant of Glossopteris. Indian Bot. Soc. J. 56: 1–23.Google Scholar
Pant, D. D. and Gupta, K. L. 1968. Cuticular structure of some Indian Lower Gondwana species of Glossopteris Brongniart. Palaeontographica. B124: 45–81.Google Scholar
Pant, D. D. and Nautiyal, D. D. 1966. On two peculiar fossils of the Karharbari Stage, India. pp. 98–100. Symposium on Floristics and Stratigraphy of Gondwanaland. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany; Lucknow.Google Scholar
Pant, D. D. and Singh, R. S. 1974. On the stem and attachment of Glossopteris and Gangamopteris leaves. Part II. Structural features. Palaeontographica. B147: 42–73.Google Scholar
Plumstead, E. P. 1956. Bisexual fructifications borne on Glossopteris leaves from South Africa. Palaeontographica. B100: 1–25.Google Scholar
Plumstead, E.P. 1958. The habit of growth of Glossopteridae. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. Trans. 61: 81–94.Google Scholar
Ramanujam, C. G. K., Rothwell, G. W., and Stewart, W. N. 1974. Probable attachment of the Dolerotheca campanulum to a Myeloxylon-Alethopteris type frond. Am. J. Bot. 61: 1057–1066.Google Scholar
Raven, P. H. 1977. A suggestion concerning the Cretaceous rise to dominance of the angiosperms. Evolution. 31: 451–452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Repetski, J. E. 1978. A fish from the upper Cambrian of North America. Science. 200: 529–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Retallack, G. J. 1977. Reconstructing Triassic vegetation of eastern Australasia: a new approach for the biostratigraphy of Gondwanaland. Alcheringa. 1: 247–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Retallack, G. J. 1980. Middle Triassic megafossil plants and trace fossils from Tank Gully, Canterbury, New Zealand. R. Soc. N.Z. J. 10: 31–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Retallack, G. J. in press. Late Carboniferous to Middle Triassic megafossil floras from the Sydney Basin. In: Herbert, C. and Helby, R. J., eds. A Guide to the Sydney Basin, Geol. Surv. N.S.W. Bull. 26.Google Scholar
Retallack, G. J. and Dilcher, D. L. in press a. A coastal hypothesis for the dispersal and rise to dominance of flowering plants. In: Niklas, K. J., ed. Evolution, Paleoecology and the Fossil Record, Harlan P. Banks Commemorative Volume. Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Retallack, G. J. and Dilcher, D. L. in press b. Early angiosperm reproduction: Prisca reynoldsii gen. et sp. nov. from mid-Cretaceous coastal deposits in Kansas, U.S.A. Palaeontographica B.Google Scholar
Ritchie, A. and Gilbert-Tomlinson, J. 1977. First Ordovician vertebrates from the southern hemisphere. Alcheringa. 1: 351–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romer, A. S. 1966. Vertebrate Paleontology. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Runnegar, B. and Jell, P. A. 1976. Australian Middle Cambrian molluscs and their bearing on molluscan evolution. Alcheringa. 1: 109–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sahni, B. 1948. The Pentoxyleae: a new group of Jurassic gymnosperms from the Rajmahal Hills of India. Mo. Bot. Gard. Ann. 110: 47–79.Google Scholar
Saksena, S. 1963. On the fossil flora of Ganjra Nalla Bed, South Rewa. Part 1. Macrofossils. Palaeobotanist. 11: 23–29.Google Scholar
Samylina, V. A. 1968. Early Cretaceous angiosperms of the Soviet Union, based on leaf and fruit remains. Linn. Soc. Lond. Bot. J. 61: 207–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schimper, A. F. W. 1903. Plant-geography upon a Physiological Basis. Translated by Fisher, W. R. Revised and edited by Groom, P. and Balfour, I. B.Pergamon Press; Oxford.Google Scholar
Schopf, J. M. 1965. Anatomy of the axis in Vertebraria. pp. 216–228. In: Hadley, J. B., ed. Geology and Paleontology of Antarctica, Am. Geophys. Union Antarct. Res. Ser. 6.Google Scholar
Schopf, J. M. 1973. The contrasting plant assemblages from Permian and Triassic deposits in southern continents. pp. 379–397. In: Logan, A. and Hills, L. V., eds. The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can. Soc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 2.Google Scholar
Schopf, J. M. 1976. Morphologic interpretations of fertile structures in glossopterid gymnosperms. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 21: 25–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Srivastava, P. N. 1957. Studies in the Glossopteris flora of India. 4. Glossopteris, Gangamopteris and Palaeovittaria from the Raniganj Coalfield. Palaeobotanist. 5: 1–45.Google Scholar
Srivastava, S. C. 1969. Two new species of Glossopteris from the Triassic of Nidpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. pp. 299–303. In: Santapau, H., ed. J. Sen Memorial Volume. J. Sen Memorial Committee and Botanical Society of Bengal; Calcutta.Google Scholar
Stebbins, G. L. 1974. Flowering Plants; Evolution above the Species Level. Belknap Press of Harvard Univ.; Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surange, K. R. and Chandra, S. 1973a. Dictyopteridium sporiferum Feistmantel, female cone from the Lower Gondwana of India. Palaeobotanist. 20: 127–136.Google Scholar
Surange, K. R. and Chandra, S. 1973b. Denkania indica gen. et sp. nov., a glossopteridean fructification from the Lower Gondwana of India. Palaeobotanist. 20: 264–268.Google Scholar
Surange, K. R. and Chandra, S. 1974. Lidgettonia mucronata sp. nov., a female fructification from the Lower Gondwana of India. Palaeobotanist. 21: 121–126.Google Scholar
Surange, K. R. and Chandra, S. 1975. Morphology of the gymnospermous fructifications of the Glossopteris flora and their relationships. Palaeontographica. B149: 153–180.Google Scholar
Surange, K. R. and Srivastava, P. N. 1957. Studies in the Glossopteris flora of India. 5. Generic status of Glossopteris, Gangamopteris and Palaeovittaria. Palaeobotanist. 5: 46–49.Google Scholar
Takhtajan, A. 1969. Flowering Plants: Origin and Dispersal. Oliver and Boyd; Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. H. 1934. The nature and origin of the stigma. New Phytol. 33: 173–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. H. 1936. Palaeobotany and the origin of the angiosperms. Bot. Rev. 2: 397–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. H. 1952. A Glossopteris with whorled leaves. Palaeobotanist. 1: 435–438.Google Scholar
Upchurch, G. R. 1978. A preliminary report of an investigation of the cuticular structure of the oldest structurally preserved angiosperm leaves. Bot. Soc. Am. Misc. Ser. 156: 78.Google Scholar
Upchurch, G. R. 1979. The cuticular anatomy of Sapindopsis from the Lower Cretaceous Potomac Group of Virginia and Maryland. Bot. Soc. Am. Misc. Ser. 157: 39.Google Scholar
Vakhrameev, V. A. and Krassilov, V. A. 1979. Reproduktinie organi tsvetkoviikh iz aliba kazakhstana (Reproductive organs of a shoot of a flowering plant from the Albian of Kazakhstan). Paleontol. Zh. for 1979: 121–128.Google Scholar
van Konijnburg-van Cittert, J. H. A. 1971. In situ gymnosperm pollen from the Middle Jurassic of Yorkshire. Acta. Bot. Neerl. 20: 1–97.Google Scholar
White, M. E. 1978. Reproductive structures of the Glossopteridales in the plant fossil collection of the Australian Museum. Aust. Mus. Rec. 31: 473–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wieland, G. R. 1918. The origin of dicotyls. Science. 48: 18–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wodehouse, R. P. 1935. Pollen Grains. McGraw-Hill; New York.Google Scholar
Wolfe, J. A., Doyle, J. A., and Page, V. M. 1975. The bases of angiosperm phylogeny; paleobotany. Mo. Bot. Gard. Ann. 62: 801–824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar