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Novel three-dimensional reconstructions of presumed Phylica (Rhamnaceae) from Cretaceous amber suggest Lauralean affinities

Nature Plants volume 10, pages 223–227 (2024)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 31 January 2022

arising from: C. Shi et al. Nat. Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01091-w (2022)

In a recent study, Shi et al.1 assigned several plant inclusions from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of Myanmar to Rhamnaceae, which belong to eudicots, a major clade of flowering plants. However, some of the inflorescence and floral traits described by the authors are either not found in extant Rhamnaceae (including Phylica) or appeared poorly preserved in the fossil. Here we thus re-evaluate the original micro X-ray computed tomography (microXCT) scanning data provided by Shi et al.1 and demonstrate that these fossil flowers do not possess any affinities with Phylica or any other Rhamnaceae but rather share a mosaic of unmistakable similarities with members of magnoliids, especially Laurales. We thus propose to accommodate the fossil in a new genus, Nothophylica gen. nov., and conclude that its affinities with members of a magnoliid lineage of flowering plants are also more consistent with current age estimates of flowering plants.

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Fig. 1: Virtual reconstructed microXCT data of flowers 1 and 2 of Nothophylica piloburmensis from Kachin amber (QUST-AM32127).
Fig. 2: Inflorescence and floral diagrams of Nothophylica piloburmensis from Kachin amber (QUST-AM32127).

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Acknowledgements

E.-M.S. and S.B. acknowledge the German Research Foundation (grant number 423862824) for financial support. We also thank F. Jabbour (Paris) and E. Guillam (Paris) for their support. Many thanks to C. Sarthou (Paris) for the opportunity of loaning, sampling and microCT-scanning Phylica specimens from the herbarium of the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN Paris; MNHN-P-P05478495, MNHN-P-P06831565, MNHN-P-P06831185, MNHN-P-P06766849, MNHN-P-P06831106, MNHN-P-P01052148, MNHN-P-P06765824, MNHN-P-P06883849).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany

    Simon Beurel & Eva-Maria Sadowski

  2. Institute of Biology/Dahlem Center of Plant Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Julien B. Bachelier

  3. Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Alexander R. Schmidt

Authors
  1. Simon Beurel
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  2. Julien B. Bachelier
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  3. Alexander R. Schmidt
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  4. Eva-Maria Sadowski
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Contributions

S.B. conducted the microXCT reconstructions, performed the segmentation and generated the videos and figures. All authors analysed the data, wrote the manuscript and contributed to the design of the figure plates.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Simon Beurel or Eva-Maria Sadowski.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Plants thanks Richard Buggs and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Fig. 1. Comparison of microXCT cross section images of flowers 1 (upper row) and 2 (lower row) obtained using original scanning files provided by Shi et al.1. a,b, Images from file QUST-AM32127-1 as published by Shi et al.1 in their Supplementary Information Fig. 26j,l. c,d, Images obtained from QUST-AM32127-1 in this study. e,f, Images obtained from QUST-AM32127-2 in this study. To be consistent with the published figure (a) of Shi et al.1, (c) and (e) were mirror-inverted. Note missing stamens in (a) and (b) encircled in red, compared to (c) and (d), and better resolution in (e) and (f). For abbreviations in (a) and (b), see Shi et al.1. Scale bars (apply to each row): a,b = 0.2 mm.

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Video 1

3D volume rendering of flower 1 of Nothophylica piloburmensis from the scanning file QUST-AM32127-2. Colours indicate pedicel and perianth (light grey), stamens (red), staminodes (yellow), upper part of the gynoecium (purple), locule (green) and ovules (blue).

Supplementary Video 2

3D volume rendering of flower 2 of Nothophylica piloburmensis from the scanning file QUST-AM32127-2. Colours indicate pedicel and perianth (light grey), stamens (red), staminodes (yellow), upper part of the gynoecium (purple), locule (green) and ovules (blue).

Supplementary Video 3

3D volume rendering of a stamen from flower 1 of Nothophylica piloburmensis from the scanning file QUST-AM32127-2.

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Beurel, S., Bachelier, J.B., Schmidt, A.R. et al. Novel three-dimensional reconstructions of presumed Phylica (Rhamnaceae) from Cretaceous amber suggest Lauralean affinities. Nat. Plants 10, 223–227 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01592-w

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