Montsechia, an ancient aquatic angiosperm

The early diversification of angiosperms in diverse ecological niches is poorly understood. Some have proposed an origin in a darkened forest habitat and others an open aquatic or near aquatic habitat. The research presented here centers onMontsechia vidalii, first recovered from lithographic limest...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2015-09, Vol.112 (35), p.10985-10988
Main Authors: Gomez, Bernard, Daviero-Gomez, Véronique, Coiffard, Clément, Martín-Closas, Carles, Dilcher, David L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic habitats
Aquatic plants
Biological Sciences
Botany
Ceratophyllum
Cretaceous
Earth Sciences
Ecosystem
Fossils
Hydrobiology
Limestone
Magnoliopsida - classification
Morphology
Phylogeny
Plant reproduction
Sciences of the Universe
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Summary:The early diversification of angiosperms in diverse ecological niches is poorly understood. Some have proposed an origin in a darkened forest habitat and others an open aquatic or near aquatic habitat. The research presented here centers onMontsechia vidalii, first recovered from lithographic limestone deposits in the Pyrenees of Spain more than 100 y ago. This fossil material has been poorly understood and misinterpreted in the past. Now, based upon the study of more than 1,000 carefully prepared specimens, a detailed analysis ofMontsechiais presented. The morphology and anatomy of the plant, including aspects of its reproduction, suggest thatMontsechiais sister toCeratophyllum(whenever cladistic analyses are made with or without a backbone).Montsechiawas an aquatic angiosperm living and reproducing below the surface of the water, similar toCeratophyllum. Montsechiais Barremian in age, raising questions about the very early divergence of theCeratophyllumclade compared with its position as sister to eudicots in many cladistic analyses. Lower Cretaceous aquatic angiosperms, such asArchaefructusandMontsechia, open the possibility that aquatic plants were locally common at a very early stage of angiosperm evolution and that aquatic habitats may have played a major role in the diversification of some early angiosperm lineages.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1509241112