Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Palaeoworld 17 (2008) 163165

Editorial

Biodiversity, anatomy and evolution of Mesozoic plants: An introduction

The Mesozoic is a crucial time in earth history for investigating the origin, diversification and evolutionary process of
plant life. During this period, many significant geological and
biological events occurred, and vegetational and climatic conditions greatly changed. Many Paleozoic plant groups (such
as pteridosperms) became extinct, whereas a diverse group
of plants originated and widely diversified. Therefore, understanding the diversity, anatomy and evolution of Mesozoic
plant groups will increase our knowledge of the radiation and
evolution of plants. This issue contains a set of papers with
the theme Biodiversity, anatomy and evolution of Mesozoic
plants. The contributions cover a variety of Mesozoic plant
groups, including ferns, cycadales, bennettitales, ginkgoales,
coniferales and angiosperms. A variety of topics are considered
such as plant biodiversity change though time, tempo-spatial distribution patterns, taxonomy, systematics and evolution. Also
covered are the relationships of these patterns and processes
to palaeoclimate, palaeogeography, palaeoecology and palaeoCO2 changes.
Ferns are among one of the most diverse plant lineages of the
Mesozoic. In the lower Liassic flora of the Mecsek Mountains,
southern Hungary, ferns are prominent elements both in number
of taxa and high quantity of specimens. The paper of Bodor and
Barbacka (2008) deals with the common genera Cladophlebis
and Todites, based on rich sterile and fertile specimens. Some 12
features are applied to distinguish these two genera and different
morphotypes with intermediate features, and suggest a higher
variation of features than previously realized. Such variability
is often connected with environmental conditions.
The Osmundaceae is an ancient leptosporangiate fern family
with an extensive fossil record, and numerous rhizomes have
been described; however, their diversity and distributional variation are poorly known. Tian et al. (2008) examine the fossil
record and diversity of about 83 species ascribed to 14 genera
of osmundaceous rhizomes based on available data from the
worldwide. The diversity variation from Permian to Mesozoic
and Cenozoic are analyzed, and the geological and geographical
distributions are summarized. It is suggested that all the Triassic rhizomes are from the Southern Hemisphere. In the Jurassic,
they are abundant and widespread throughout the world. During the transition from Jurassic to Cretaceous, the diversity
declined rapidly. The Cenozoic rhizomes are mainly reported
from the middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

New evidence indicates that northern China might be one of

the important potential activity centres for osmundaceous plants
in the Northern Hemisphere during Mesozoic. This study provides useful information for exploring the origin, radiation and
evolution of the osmundaceous ferns.
A new marsilealean fern Marsileaceaephyllum mahisensis n.
sp. is reported from the Early Cretaceous of Jordan by Hu and
Taylor (2008). The species is characterized by small wedgeshaped leaves with dichotomous and anastomosing venation,
and is most similar to Marsilea, in particular with terrestrial
leaflet forms. But it is distinct from living and fossil species by
its small size and a few middle veins with dichotomous branching but monopodial course. A single, similar-veined, smaller
leaf with a retuse apex is thought to be a juvenile leaf of the
same species. This represents the first megafossil evidence of
the family from Africa/Arabian Peninsula, and contributing to
our knowledge about the diversity of Marsilealean ferns.
The Carnian flora in Lunz of Austria is one of the most
diverse Late Triassic compression megafloras of the Northern
Hemisphere. The foliage fossils, however, have not received
much attention recently. Pott et al. (2008) have investigated
the cycadales, bennettitaleans and ginkgophytes based on wellpreserved epidermal anatomy. Moreover, hypotheses are offered
on the general nature and structure of the ecosystem that existed
at Lunz during the Carnian, along with considerations on specific habitat conditions and environmental parameters inferred
from the epidermal anatomy. The macromorphological and epidermal features of the Lunz plants may represent adaptations
to physiological drought. The geological and palaeozoological
evidence indicate more humid and water-dependent environment, suggesting that the Lunz flora is of a lowland swamp
environment.
Otozamites is a representative fossil leaf belonging to the
extinct Bennettitales, with an extensive distribution during the
Mesozoic Era. Wang et al. (2008) report their investigations on
the diversity variation and distribution pattern of Otozamites
in China. Their study shows that the fossils of Otozamites are
extensively recorded in the Upper Triassic, reach their maximum development in the Lower Jurassic, followed by a reduction
in diversity in Middle and Upper Jurassic, and finally become
extinct in the Early Cretaceous. They are recorded in both
the North and South Floristic Provinces in the Mesozoic of
China, with a relatively higher abundance in the South Floristic

1871-174X/$ see front matter 2008 Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2008.10.005

164

Editorial / Palaeoworld 17 (2008) 163165

Province. It is implied that the diversity variation and distribution of Otozamites are closely related with palaeoclimatic
conditions. This offers further evidence for the reconstruction
of palaeogeography and palaeoclimate conditions during Mesozoic.
The relationship between stomatal parameters of fossil leaves
and paleo-CO2 level has been widely adopted as an effective
tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. It provides an independent check for estimating paleo-CO2 from isotopic analysis
of pedogenic carbonates and leaf organic matter. B.N. Sun et
al. (2008) focus on the analysis of fossil Ginkgo in continuous
sedimentary series in northwestern China using plant anatomy
and organic geochemistry approaches. A trend of paleo-CO2
variation during the Early and Middle Jurassic is reconstructed
with the stomatal ratio method, and the carbon isotopic composition of paleo-CO2 is deduced by fossil Ginkgo. They suggest
that stomata-based paleo-CO2 concentrations for the Jurassic
are generally consistent with the predictions of the geochemical model, ranging from 10001600 ppmv. The carbon isotope
values demonstrate that fossil Ginkgo in a greenhouse world
is more efficient than the living Ginkgo in water use efficiency.
The early angiosperms are widely distributed in western Liaoning and its neighboring area of northeastern China.
Recent discoveries on such fossils in this area have greatly
improved our understanding on the early origin and evolution of angiosperms. G. Sun et al. (2008) summarized the
main achievements in the study of early angiosperms from
northeastern China for 19982007. The new discoveries of
the earliest well-documented records of angiosperms such as
Archaefructus, as well as Hyrcantha decussata (=Sinocarpus
decussatus, according to Sun et al.), provide fresh knowledge
for better understanding the primitive characters of ancient
angiosperms as well as their aquatic (or wet) habitat and herbaceous nature. Some new approaches such as the combination of
molecular and morphological characters place Archaefructus in
the broader angiosperm phylogenetic framework. In addition,
the co-evolution of early angiosperms with insects is emphasized.
In North America, angiosperm fossils of Platanaceae have
been well recorded in the Early Cretaceous Dakota Formation
for a long time. However, mesofossils of reproductive organs of
the Platanaceae affinity were never documented in the Midwest
of North America. Wang (2008) briefly reports the occurrence of
several specimens with Friiscarpus affinity (Friiscarpus) from
the Dakota Formation in Kansans. This work complements the
existing fossil foliage record of this family, and provides more
information on fossil reproductive biology of the Platanaceae.
Prakash (2008) reports the biodiversity of Early Cretaceous
flora of Jabalpur Formation, Satpura Basin of India. Both megaplant and palynofloral assemblages suggest that the flora is
dominated by conifers and pteridophytes along with cycadophytes and certain pteridosperms. Attempt has been made to
reveal the diversity, biostratigraphic correlation, and phytogeographic distribution of the Jabalpur flora with various coeval
floras of the Indian peninsula, along with contemporaneous
deposits of the other Gondwanan regions. The palaeogeographic

conditions suggest that the flora was thriving as mixed vegetation during Early Cretaceous under subtropicaltropical climatic
condition.
It is worth mentioning that two additional papers published
in the previous issue of Palaeoworld also deals with the special theme of Biodiversity, anatomy and evolution of Mesozoic
plants. Philippe et al. (2008) reported their concerns about
the appearance of the woody habit in the early evolution of
angiosperms (Early Cretaceous). They demonstrated that the
woody characteristic in angiosperms appeared later than previously thought during the Albian time, based on the examination
of over 600 Cretaceous fossil wood specimens from a wide range
of palaeoenvironments in Europe. It is proposed that ecological
and environmental factors influenced the evolution of the woody
habit, which contributed to the global extension and dominance
of angiosperms from Cenomanian to the Recent. Markevich and
Bugdaeva (2008) studied the palynological assemblages from
the non-marine coal-bearing Upper Jurassic (Talanja Formation)
to Lower Cretaceous (Dublikan Formation) deposits of Bureya
basin, Russian Far East. As an aspect of palynological studies
of the Bureya basin, determining the position of JK boundary
has been a major objective of the analysis and special attention is given to age determination of coal accumulation in the
basin, its correlation with palynofloras of adjacent regions was
conducted for dating of the units; furthermore, the climate and
palaeoenvironments were reconstructed.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all of the authors for their contribution
to this issue. We are grateful to Prof. Edith L. Taylor (University of Kansans, USA) for providing helpful suggestions and
positive support for this issue. We sincerely acknowledge the
referees for reviewing the manuscript, including M. Akhmetiev
(Geological Institute of RAS, Moscow, Russia), Maria Barbacka
(Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest), Georges Barale (University of Lyon1, France), Sheng-Hui Deng (Institute
of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing, China),
Gatan Guignard (University of Lyon 1, France), Evelyn Kustatscher (Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Bozen, Italy), Jian-Hua
Jin (Sun Ya-tsen University, Guangzhou, China), Hong-Qi Li
(Frostburg State University, Frostburg, USA), Harufumi Nishida
(Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan), Marc Philippe (University of
Lyon1, France), Mihai E. Popa (University of Bucherest, Romania), Grzegorz Pienkowski (Polish Geological Institute, Poland),
Harald Schneider (University of Gttingen, Germany), Bai-Nian
Sun (Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China), Ge Sun (Jilin University, Changchun, China), Frdric Thevenard (University
of Lyon1, France), Vivi Vajda (University of Lund, Sweden),
Shi-Jun Wang (Institute of Botany, CAS, Beijing, China) and
Zhe-Kun Zhou (Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS, Kunming,
China).
We wish to thank the grant support from the National Key
Basic Research Program of China (Grant No.: 2006CB701401),
the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC Grant
No.: 40472004). This is a contribution to IGCP 506 and 555.

Editorial / Palaeoworld 17 (2008) 163165

References
Bodor, E., Barbacka, M., 2008. Taxonomic implications of Liassic ferns
Cladophlebis Brongniart and Todites Seward from Hungary. Palaeoworld
17 (34), 201214.
Hu, S.S., Taylor, W.D., 2008. A new marsilealean fern species from the Early
Cretaceous of Jordan. Palaeoworld 17 (3), 235245.
Markevich, V.S., Bugdaeva, E.V., 2008. The palynological assemblages from
the JK boundary beds of the Bureya Basin, Russian Far East. Palaeoworld
17 (2), 135141.
Philippe, M., Gomez, B., Girard, V., Coiffard, C., Daviero-Gomez, V., Thvenard, F., Billon-Bruyat, J.P., Crawley, M., Guiomar, M., Latil, J.L., Le Loeuff,
J., Nraudeau, D., Olivero, D., Schlgl, J., 2008. Woody or not woody? Evidence for early angiosperm habit from the Early Cretaceous fossil wood
record of Europe. Palaeoworld 17 (2), 142152.
Pott, C., Krings, M., Kerp, H., 2008. The Carnian (Late Triassic) flora from Lunz
in Lower Austria: paleoecological considerations. Palaeoworld 17 (34),
172182.
Prakash, N., 2008. Biodiversity and Palaeoclimatic interpretation of Early Cretaceous flora of the Jabalpur Formation, the Satpura Basin, India. Palaeoworld
17 (34), 253263.
Sun, G., Dilcher, D.L., Zheng, S.L., 2008. A review of recent advances in the
study of early angiosperms from northeastern China. Palaeoworld 17 (34),
166171.
Sun, B.N., Xie, S.P., Yan, D.F., Cong, P.Y., 2008. Fossil plant evidence for
Early and Middle Jurassic paleoenvironmental changes in Lanzhou area,
Northwest China. Palaeoworld 17 (34), 215221.

165

Tian, N., Wang, Y.D., Jiang, Z.K., 2008. Permineralized rhizomes of the
Osmundaceae (Filicales): diversity and tempo-spatial distribution pattern.
Palaeoworld 17 (34), 183200.
Wang, X., 2008. Mesofossils with Platanaceous affinity from the Dakota
Formation (Cretaceous) in Kansas, USA. Palaeoworld 17 (3-4), 246
252.
Wang, Y.D., Ni, Q., Tian, N., Jiang, Z.K., 2008. Diversity variation and tempospatial distribution of Otozamites (Bennettitales) in the Mesozoic of China.
Palaeoworld 17 (34), 222234.

Guest Editor
Yong-Dong Wang
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Guest Editor
Brian J. Axsmith
Department of Biological Sciences, LSCB 124,
University of South Alabama, Mobile,
AL 36688, USA
Corresponding

author. Tel.: +86 2583282221;

fax: +86 2583357026.
E-mail address: ydwang@nigpas.ac.cn (Y.-D. Wang)
Available online 1 November 2008