First Asian fossil record of Platydictya (Amblystegiaceae) from the lower Miocene and its paleoenvironmental significance

Liyan GUO, Liang XIAO, Ya LI, Xiangchuan LI, Qin LENG, Nan SUN, Junfeng GUO, Chaofeng FU, Jianan WANG, Deshuang JI

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Front. Earth Sci. ›› 2023, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (1) : 351-360. DOI: 10.1007/s11707-022-1037-7
RESEARCH ARTICLE

First Asian fossil record of Platydictya (Amblystegiaceae) from the lower Miocene and its paleoenvironmental significance

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Abstract

Mosses form a diverse land plant group in modern vegetation but have rarely showed up in the fossil record compared with vascular plants. Here, we report an extraordinarily-preserved early Miocene moss fossil from the lower Laoliangdi Formation in the Pingzhuang Coal Mine in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China. Although lacking rhizoids and most reproductive organs, the well-preserved fossil allows us to assign it to Platydictya cf. jungermannioides (Amblystegiaceae) based upon its detailed gross and micro-morphology. The diagnostic characteristics include a small-sized body with slender stems bearing spirally arranged ovate-lanceolate leaves that lack costae. Leaf margins are mostly partly entire and partly dentate, a few dentate, and rarely completely entire. It represents the first fossil record of Platydictya in Asia. The specific living microenvironment of the extant P. jungermannioides enriched our understanding of the early Miocene environment that was previously based upon vascular plant fossils and sedimentary lithofacies in the area. Our early Miocene Platydictya cf. jungermannioides fossil lived in a warm and humid lush forest with a dense understory that received adequate water supplies.

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Keywords

moss / the Pingzhuang Coal Mine / Inner Mongolia / Platydictya / paleoenvironment

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Liyan GUO, Liang XIAO, Ya LI, Xiangchuan LI, Qin LENG, Nan SUN, Junfeng GUO, Chaofeng FU, Jianan WANG, Deshuang JI. First Asian fossil record of Platydictya (Amblystegiaceae) from the lower Miocene and its paleoenvironmental significance. Front. Earth Sci., 2023, 17(1): 351‒360 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-022-1037-7

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41872017 and 42072015); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (Nos. 300102272206, 300102272901, 300102271402, and 300102262903); the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (Nos. 183125 and 20172106); the Natural Science Basic Research Program in Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2023-JC-YB-223), Chang᾽an University Students᾽ innovation and entrepreneurship training program (No. G202210710054). We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions.

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