A  Jurassic  wood  providing  insights  into  the  earliest  step  in  Ginkgo  wood  evolution

Zikun Jiang (1) , Yongdong Wang (2) , Marc Philippe (3) , Wu Zhang (4) , Ning Tian (5) , Shaolin Zheng (4)

1 CAGS - Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences [Beijing]
2 NIGPAS-CAS - Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology
3 LEHNA - Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés
4 Shenyang Institute of Geology and Mineral Ressources
5 College of Palaeontology

The fossil record of Ginkgo leaf and reproductive organs has been well dated to the Mid-Jurassic (170 Myr). However, the fossil wood record that can safely be assigned to Ginkgoales has not yet been reported from strata predating the late Early Cretaceous (ca. 100 Myr). Here, we report a new fossil wood from the Mid-Late Jurassic transition deposit (153–165 Myr) of northeastern China. The new fossil wood specimen displays several Ginkgo features, including inflated axial parenchyma and intrusive tracheid tips. Because it is only slightly younger than the oldest recorded Ginkgo reproductive organs (the Yima Formation, 170 Myr), this fossil wood very probably represents the oldest bona fide fossil Ginkgo wood and the missing ancestral form of Ginkgo wood evolution.

Domains: Biodiversity and Ecology

Zikun Jiang, Yongdong Wang, Marc Philippe, Wu Zhang, Ning Tian, et al.. A  Jurassic  wood  providing  insights  into  the  earliest  step  in  Ginkgo  wood  evolution. Scientific Reports, 2016, 6 (38191), pp.1-8. ⟨10.1038/srep38191⟩. ⟨hal-01420802⟩