The Earliest Ascidiate Carpel and Its Implications for Angiosperm Evolution

摘要

According to the classic doctrine of angiosperm evolution,the archetype carpel in angiosperms is of plicate form.However,this concept is facing increasing challenges from the systematics based on molecular data,which now takes ascidiate carpel as ancestral.This reorientation in evolutionary thinking cannot be fully achieved unless there is supporting fossil evidence.Here a fruit, named Liaoningfructus,is reported from the famous Yixian Formation(Early Cretaceous,125 Ma), which yielded several pioneer ang...