Angiosperms, or flowering plants, hold significant importance for humanity. Our origins and development are closely intertwined with the conditions and resources provided by angiosperms. In contemporary ecosystems, angiosperms play a crucial dominant role and establish intricate food webs with insects and other animals. To date, our understanding of the historical complexity of angiosperms within ecosystems remains limited.
Fossilized leaves resembling Ginkgo biloba leaves were found in the Da Yang Tree Basin.
There are various speculations internationally about the origin time and location of angiosperms. However, there is no reliable fossil evidence to prove when angiosperms began to integrate into the Earth's ecosystem and establish complex ecosystems with other animals.
Recently, a breakthrough was made by a research team led by Professor Han Gang from Hainan Vocational and Technical College and Researcher Wang Xin from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Their paper, "The First Sign of Ecosystem Complexification Related to Angiosperms," published in the Journal of Biology and Life Sciences, overcame the aforementioned academic bottleneck.
"This is the earliest evidence of ecosystem complexification related to angiosperms discovered so far. It is evident that ecosystems related to angiosperms had already started to become complex by the end of the Mesozoic era, laying the foundation for the emergence of today's complex ecosystems," Wang Xin told the China Science Daily.
The paper reports a precious fossilized leaf from the Nenjiang Formation in the Da Yang Tree Basin of Hulunbuir League, Inner Mongolia, dating back 83 to 86 million years ago. What sets this fossil apart is the discovery of bite marks from up to three different insects on a single leaf fossil, indicating a complex ecological relationship between insects and angiosperms for the first time.
The fossil was named Ginkgo biloba-like leaf in honor of its fossil site in the Da Yang Tree Basin of Hulunbuir League, Inner Mongolia.
The Ginkgoaceae family is a basal group of core eudicots. In the early development of angiosperms, Ginkgoaceae plants were once very prominent in the Northern Hemisphere. Previous findings have shown traces of insects feeding on angiosperms, but typically, there is only one type of insect feeding trace on a leaf, especially in the fossil record.
Wang Xin explained that this reflects the relatively monotonous ecosystem in which angiosperms existed. However, the discovery of a single fossil leaf with bite marks from three different insects indicates the ecosystem in which angiosperms existed had become complex, and the food chain between plants and animals was no longer as simple as before.
For more information on the paper, visit: https://doi.org/10.33552/SJBLS.2024.03.000571
