Abstract Much progress has been made in the understanding of the phylogeny of Silurian-Early Devonian vascular land plants during the past years. However,no consensus has been reached considering the delimitation and subdivision of polysporangiophytes,rhyniopsids,and zosterophyllopsids;the sister-group relationship between zosterophyllopsids and lycopsids is questioned;detailed studies of basal euphyllophytes are needed. The evolutionary history of the Silurian-Early Devonian vascular plants can be divided into two phases:The pre-Pragian prelude phase and the Early Devonian Pragian explosion(burst)phase. The first phase is characterized by initial emergences of representatives of vascular plant major clades. The second is the main phase which witnessed explosive radiation of vascular plant clades. During the Pragian,typical features of lycopsids such as regular phyllotaxy,sporophylls,and strobilus-like structures appeared;the diversification of euphyllophyte lineages occurred;megaphylls and their homologous structures(branch-leaf complexes)evolved multiple times independently;and developmental interrelationship between sporangia and leafy structures convergently established in different lineages. In South China of the northeastern Gondwanan phytogeographic unit,zosterophyllopsids were dominated by those with spirally arranged sporangia and euphyllophytes showed high diversity and disparity during the Pragian,while in the Laurussian phytogeographic unit,zosterophyllopsids with rowed sporangia were abundant and the appearance of comparable euphyllophytes occurred later than in South China. The cladogenesis of horneophytopsids,cooksonioids,and rhynialeans might have mainly occurred at middle and high paleolatitudes such as southern Laurussia and northwestern Gondwana. The cladogenesis and biogeographic radiation of zosterophyllopsids,lycopsids,and euphyllophytes may accord with the “out of the tropics”model,that is,these groups diversified and rapidly radiated earlier at low paleolatitudes;the explosion of vascular plant clades in Pragian was mainly contributed by the evolutionary novelty of tropical floras.
About author: Xue Jinzhuang,born in 1981,is an associate professor of Peking University. His current research focuses on the evolution of early vascular plants. E-mail: pkuxue@pku.edu.cn.
Cite this article:
Xue Jinzhuang,Hao Shougang. Phylogeny, episodic evolution and geographic distribution of the Silurian-Early Devonian vascular plants: Evidences from plant megafossils[J]. JOPC, 2014, 16(6): 861-877.
Xue Jinzhuang,Hao Shougang. Phylogeny, episodic evolution and geographic distribution of the Silurian-Early Devonian vascular plants: Evidences from plant megafossils[J]. JOPC, 2014, 16(6): 861-877.
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