A novel approach for the metric analysis of fern fronds: Growth and architecture of the Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata in the light of modern ferns.

The architecture of primary and secondary pinnae of the fossil fern Weichselia reticulata (C. Stokes et Webb) Fontaine is studied based on 28 large specimens from the upper Barremian La Huérguina Formation of the fossil locality Las Hoyas, Cuenca, Spain. The study of the specimens is performed through a morphometric analysis consisting in a reformulation of the Branching Algorithms method of shape description including measurements (insertion angle, distance between pinnae, first segment length and rachis width) and ratios (interval ratio, branching ratio and tapering ratio). A protocol to relocate isolated fragments of fossil pinnae is also established using the interval ratio (distance between pinnae/ previous distance between pinnae) and insertion angle of the pinnae. All specimens show a similar architecture, having elliptic primary pinnae with a sinuous apically tapering primary rachis and triangular secondary pinnae with pinnules of different morphologies. The analysis of the architecture allows to propose that the position of the frond was plagiotropic and that the frond growth was basiplastic for the petiole head and acroplastic for the primary pinnae. The metric method is applied to explore the architecture of four living fern species (Angiopteris evecta (Forst.) Hoffm., Matonia pectinata R.Br., Sphaeropteris cooperi (F.Muell.) R.M.Tryon, and Woodwardia unigemmata (Makino) Nakai). Weichselia architecture results extremely ordered and regular in comparison with the primary pinnae variation of the living species.

CO2 and temperature decoupling at the million-year scale during the Cretaceous Greenhouse.

CO2 is considered the main greenhouse gas involved in the current global warming and the primary driver of temperature throughout Earth's history. However, the soundness of this relationship across time scales and during different climate states of the Earth remains uncertain. Here we explore how CO2 and temperature are related in the framework of a Greenhouse climate state of the Earth. We reconstruct the long-term evolution of atmospheric CO2 concentration (pCO2) throughout the Cretaceous from the carbon isotope compositions of the fossil conifer Frenelopsis. We show that pCO2 was in the range of ca. 150-650 ppm during the Barremian-Santonian interval, far less than what is usually considered for the mid Cretaceous. Comparison with available temperature records suggest that although CO2 may have been a main driver of temperature and primary production at kyr or smaller scales, it was a long-term consequence of the climate-biological system, being decoupled or even showing inverse trends with temperature, at Myr scales. Our analysis indicates that the relationship between CO2 and temperature is time scale-dependent at least during Greenhouse climate states of the Earth and that primary productivity is a key factor to consider in both past and future analyses of the climate system.

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 on Montsechia 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 of Montsechia is presented. The morphology and anatomy of the plant, including aspects of its reproduction, suggest that Montsechia is sister to Ceratophyllum (whenever cladistic analyses are made with or without a backbone). Montsechia was an aquatic angiosperm living and reproducing below the surface of the water, similar to Ceratophyllum. Montsechia is Barremian in age, raising questions about the very early divergence of the Ceratophyllum clade compared with its position as sister to eudicots in many cladistic analyses. Lower Cretaceous aquatic angiosperms, such as Archaefructus and Montsechia, 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.

Multiscale 3D virtual dissections of 100-million-year-old flowers using X-ray synchrotron micro- and nanotomography.

A multiscale approach combining phase-contrast X-ray micro- and nanotomography is applied for imaging a Cretaceous fossil inflorescence in the resolution range from 0.75 µm to 50 nm. The wide range of scale views provides three-dimensional reconstructions from the external gross morphology of the inflorescence fragment to the finest exine sculptures of in situ pollen. This approach enables most of the characteristics usually observed under light microscopy, or with low magnification under scanning and transmission electron microscopy, to be obtained nondestructively. In contrast to previous tomography studies of fossil and extant flowers that used resolutions down to the micron range, we used voxels with a 50 nm side in local tomography scans. This high level of resolution enables systematic affinities of fossil flowers to be established without breaking or slicing specimens.

Rise to dominance of angiosperm pioneers in European Cretaceous environments.

The majority of environments are dominated by flowering plants today, but it is uncertain how this dominance originated. This increase in angiosperm diversity happened during the Cretaceous period (ca. 145-65 Ma) and led to replacement and often extinction of gymnosperms and ferns. We propose a scenario for the rise to dominance of the angiosperms from the Barremian (ca. 130 Ma) to the Campanian (ca. 84 Ma) based on the European megafossil plant record. These megafossil data demonstrate that angiosperms migrated into new environments in three phases: (i) Barremian (ca. 130-125 Ma) freshwater lake-related wetlands; (ii) Aptian-Albian (ca. 125-100 Ma) understory floodplains (excluding levees and back swamps); and (iii) Cenomanian-Campanian (ca. 100-84 Ma) natural levees, back swamps, and coastal swamps. This scenario allows for the measured evolution of angiosperms in time and space synthesizing changes in the physical environment with concomitant changes in the biological environment. This view of angiosperm radiation in three phases reconciles previous scenarios based on the North American record. The Cretaceous plant record that can be observed in Europe is exceptional in many ways. (i) Angiosperms are well preserved from the Barremian to the Maastrichtian (ca. 65 Ma). (ii) Deposits are well constrained and dated stratigraphically. (iii) They encompass a full range of environments. (iv) European paleobotany provides many detailed studies of Cretaceous floras for analysis. These factors make a robust dataset for the study of angiosperm evolution from the Barremian to the Campanian that can be traced through various ecosystems and related to other plant groups occupying the same niches.