The Lopingian is the uppermost series of the Paleozoic and it is bracketed by two major biological events – the pre-Lopingian crisis and the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME). It also records the most dramatic environmental changes during the Phanerozoic. A high-resolution temporal framework is essential to understand the patterns and causes of the extinctions. Lopingian strata of South China have been intensively studied because three GSSPs have been defined by the FADs of conodont species in the region. In addition, as the most important fossil group for Lopingian biostratigraphy, conodonts are selected as the international standard to recognize boundaries and to correlate stratigraphy. Thus, a high-resolution conodont succession for the Lopingian strata from South China is vital to establish an integrative timescale. Recently, Dr. Dongxun Yuan from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences updated the integrative timescale, including biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy and geochronology, for the Lopingian (Late Permian) based on results from newly-collected samples from the uppermost Guadalupian to the lowest Triassic at the Shangsi section, South China. The entire Lopingian high-resolution conodont succession was for the first time, since the Lopingian Series was adopted as the international standard, recognized at a single section in South China and the succession correlated very well with the Lopingian GSSP sections at Penglaitan and Meishan. The conodont succession was also temporally calibrated by geochronologic ages, identified 405-kyr eccentricity cycles, and a Monte Carlo analysis. The framework provided the possibility that the current high-resolution marine international standard can be correlated with nonmarine strata by means of magnetostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy. The study also adopted the Unitary Associations approach to establish unitary association zones (UAZs) and test these conodont biozones based on seven important Lopingian sections of South China. The main contradictions between UAZs and biozones, especially at the PTB interval, were discussed, and the correspondence between UAZs and biozones of the Shangsi section provided a practical example to understand controls on conodont UAZs. The PTB of the Shangsi section was constrained in view of ammonoids, bivalves, conodonts, U-Pb ages and mass extinction event, and updated ages for the base of the Lopingian and base of the Changhsingian were provided. Reference: Yuan D.X.*, Shen S.Z., Henderson C.M., Chen J., Zhang H., Zheng Q.F., Wu H.C., 2019. Integrative timescale for the Lopingian (Late Permian): A review and update from Shangsi, South China. Earth-Science Reviews, 188: 190-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.11.002. Exposure of the Shangsi section and outcrops showing the PTB interval
Lopingian stratigraphic framework at the Shangsi sect
Tommotiids are a group of Early Cambrian fossils with multiple small organophosphatic sclerites, and are a kind of extraordinary animals occurring during the Cambrian Explosion. Due to lack of well-preserved scleritome fossils, their zoological affinities had been uncertain for a long time. Over the past years, discovery and study of some articulated scleritomes indicate that tommotiids may belong to stem-group brachiopods. Though their soft-part anatomy is hitherto unknown, it has been argued that bivalved brachiopod shells probably evolved from an Eccentrotheca-like stem group ancestor through intermediary forms (e.g. Paterimitra pyramidalis) by the successive stages of sclerite reduction, specialization and tube shortening. Although tommotiids are common and globally distributed in the Lower Cambrian, they were not discovered from North China Platform yet. Recently, PhD candidate PAN Bing from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues from Australia and Sweden reported the first discovery of the tommotiid Paterimitra pyramidalis from the Lower Cambrian Xinji Formation of North China Platform. Paterimitra pyramidalis was previously only found from the Early Cambrian of Australia, and its articulated coniform scleritome specimens from Australia with three morphotype sclerites indicate that it was probably a sessile filter feeder (attaching to hard substrates via a pedicle). Like the Australia material, the disarticulated sclerites of P. pyramidalis from the Xinji Formation include three morphotypes, i.e., S1, S2 and L sclerites. This discovery not only represents the first occurrence of P. pyramidalis outside Australia, but also it is the first report of tommotiids in North China. The previous discovery of Paterimitra pyramidalis sclerites in a range of lower Cambrian carbonate depositional facies from south and central Australia (part of the eastern Gondwana in early Cambrian) demonstrates their dispersal ability along epeiric platform. Its occurrence in North China suggests that P. pyramidalis should have a relatively longer planktotrophic larval period to let its larvae cross the oceanic barriers between eastern Australia and southern North China in the early Cambrian. But, the exclusive occurrence in Australia and North China indicates their dispersal ability is limited and hints that these two regions should have had close palaeogeographic proximity in that interval. The exact palaeogeographic position of the North China Platform in the early Cambrian has long been controversial. It has been variously placed along the margin of western Gondwana bordering today's north-eastern India, or as an independent continent in either close juxtaposition to the north of Australia, or close to north-eastern margin of Australian East Gondwana, or located thousands of kilometers to the east of Australia in the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean. The co-occurrence of P. pyramidalis and many other shelly fossils in both the North China Platform and Australian East Gondwana supports that these two areas had a close palaeobiogeographic link during the early Cambrian. This research was recently published in Gondwana Research, and was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Swedish Research Council. Reference: Pan, B., Brock, G.A., Skovsted, C.B., Betts, M.J., Topper, T.P., Li, G.X.*, 2018. Paterimitra pyramidalis Laurie, 1986, the first tommotiid discovered from the early Cambrian of North China. Gondwana Research, 63: 179-185. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2018.05.014 Paterimitra pyramidalis Laurie, 1986 from the Xinji Formation, Cambrian Epoch 2, North China. Palaeogeographic distribution of Paterimitra pyramidalis in Cambrian Epoch 2 (palaeogeographic map modified from Torsvik and Cocks, 2013b; Yang et al., 2015).
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau which is made up of multiple blocks has a complicated geological history. The different geographical locations of these blocks resulted in different fauna during the geological history because of the presence of pronounced thermal gradients. The Permian faunas and their paleobiogeographic affinities have been proved to be the reliable data to recognize the paleogeographic position for many Tibetan blocks. The Upper Permian strata of Lhasa Block have been previously considered as continental strata with fossil plants. Consequently, it was believed that the Lhasa Block had been uplifted into land during the Late Permian. The Lopingian marine strata have been reported in Lhasa Block in recent years, which challenges the traditional viewpoint. However, the taxonomy and palaeobiogeography of these marine faunas remain uncertain. Recently, Prof. ZHANG Yichun, researchers at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted a research on the foraminifers from the topmost part of the Xiala Formation in the Tsochen area, central Lhasa Block. The fauna mainly consist of Colaniella, Reichelina, Sphaerulina, Neodiscus, Langella and Geinitzina, indicating a Changhsingian age. The most typical feature of this fauna is the absence of Palaeofusulina. More importantly, no Palaeofusulina fauna has been reported in the whole Lhasa Block and such is the case for those Gondwanan blocks. But the Palaeofusulina species has been reported in the west of South Qiangtang Block. It suggests that the South Qiangtang Block would have drifted northward to a low latitude region during the Changhsingian, but the Lhasa Block may still locate at a relatively southern position. This indicates that the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean has a considerable width at that time, which is consistent with the view that the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean opened before the Middle-Late Permian. On the other hand, the Permian sedimentary sequence and faunas of the Lhasa Block exhibits a great difference to the South Qiangtang Block and Himalaya terrane. Therefore, it is considered that the Lhasa Block was an independent block between the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean and the Neotethys Ocean during the Changhsingian. This work was financially supported by Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Reference: Feng Qiao, Hai-Peng Xu, Yi-Chun Zhang*, 2019. Changhsingian (Late Permian) foraminifers from the topmost part of the Xiala Formation in the Tsochen area, central Lhasa Block, Tibet and their geological implications. Palaeoworld, Doi: 10.1016/j.palwor.2018.10.007. Fieldwork in Tibet Foraminifers from the topmost part of the Xiala Formation (1) Foraminifers from the topmost part of the Xiala Formation (2) Distribution pattern for the fusulines Palaeofusulina and the forminifera Colaniella during the Changhsingian (Lopingian)
The euphyllophyte Pauthecophyton sp. from the Lower Devonian Yangling Psephyte, Chongyi, Jiangxi Province, China The South China Plate, being situated at the periphery of the Gondwana supercontinent in the Paleozoic, was formed by the Neoproterozoic (ca. 850-820 Ma) amalgamation of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, both of which belonged to a unified continental terrane and between which there was an epicontinental sea during the Paleozoic. A major geological event in the South China Plate was recognized by angular unconformities or disconformities between the Devonian and the Lower Paleozoic (early Silurian and pre-Silurian) strata. The corresponding unconformity separates the Lower and Upper Paleozoic strata and represents the surface of the tectonic event known as the Kwangsian Orogeny, which was thought to be the Caledonian Orogeny occurring in the South China Plate.The process of the Kwangsian Orogeny, especially its uplift movement pattern during the tectonic events across the Cathaysia Block, was analyzed based on Ordovician biofacies and lithofacies and revealed that the Kwangsian Orogeny originated along the southeast coast of China in the Ordovician and developed stepwise in a northwest direction. However, the deposition process after the Kwangsian Orogeny is still poorly understood for the reason of rare fossil records or poor horizons recognized overlying the Kwangsian Orogeny deposits. As a result, when and how did the Devonian transgression and deposition occur are not known yet. The study on Devonian plants and near-shore depositions is required to solve the problem. Recently, the Devonian work group of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontoloy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Prof. Xu Hong-He, including Prof. Wang Yi, Dr. Tang Peng, Dr. Fu Qiang and PhD student Wang Yao, for the first time, discovered the typical Lower Devonian plants from the Yangling Psephyte, Chongyi, southern Jiangxi Province, China, which palaeogeographically belongs to the Cathaysia Block of the South China Plate. As a result, the Yangling Psephyte is dated as Pragian (Early Devonian). Additionally, combined with 23 horizons and 52 Devonian plant fossil localities in southern China reported in previous studies, the stepwise pattern of Devonian transgression and deposition after the Kwangsian Orogeny is recognized. It is indicated that the transgression and deposition started no later than the Pragian Stage, continued until at least the Late Devonian and gradually strengthened northeastwards from the Early Devonian to the Late Devonian. Mr. Lei Han-Sheng and Chongyi Geology and Mineral Bureau, Jiangxi Province are grateful for help in fieldwork in the Yangling National Geopark. The study used Devonian plant fossil records to discuss the reginal geology and related palaeogeographical issues and is online published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, as below. Article information: Xu H-H, Wang Y, Tang P, Fu Q, Wang Y. 2018. Discovery of Lower Devonian plants from Jiangxi, South China and the pattern of Devonian transgression after the Kwangsian Orogeny in the Cathaysia Block. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.007
Archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes constitute the cellular life on our planet, but all complex life on Earth are eukaryotes with nuclei inside cells. Therefore, the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes is one of the most puzzling evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth, and has been a hot topic in evolutionary biology and paleobiology. Available fossil evidences demonstrate that eukaryotes already appeared during the late Paleoproterozoic around 1,700 million years ago. However, convincing eukaryotic fossil records are scarce, so little is known about early diversity and cellular development of eukaryotes during the Paleoproterozoic. Recently, an international research group led by Prof. ZHU Maoyan from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered diverse eukaryotic microfossils from the late Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rocks (1,700 Ma) in the Yanshan Range, North China. The new eukaryotic fossil assemblage represents the earliest diverse eukaryotes on Earth so far, providing new insights into the origin and early evolution of the eukaryotic life. The reported fossils were recovered by techniques of palynological maceration from the black shales of the late Paleoproterozoic Changzhougou and Chuanlinggou formations (1.67-1.64 Ga) in the Yanshan area. The fossil assemblage is composed of beautifully preserved organic-walled tiny microfossils which are predominated by spheroidal unicellular fossils with less abundant process-bearing, colonial and filamentous forms, and are attributed to 14 genera and 15 species with 2 newly described taxa. Among them, 10 species are interpreted as eukaryotic species (including 6 convincing and 4 ambiguous species) based on a combination of large cell dimensions and complex morphological characteristics, such as reticulate sculpture, concentric striations, tubular extensions, equatorial flanges and large internal bodies. The complex morphology and diversity revealed by these unicellular eukaryotes suggests a complexity of eukaryotic cellular development (e.g. cytoskeleton, endomembrane system) and a moderate diversification of eukaryotic life by the late Paleoproterozoic, comparable to that during the Mesoproterozoic. The new finding is recently published by the international geological journal Precambrian Research. This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of CAS, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Swedish Research Council.Reference：Miao L, Moczydlowsk M, Zhu S, Zhu M, 2019. New record of organic-walled, morphologically distinct microfossils from the late Paleoproterozoic ChangchengGroup in the Yanshan Range, North China. Precambrian Research, 321: 172-198. DOI: 10.1016/j.precamres.2018.11.019. Organic-walled microfossils from the c. 1.7 Ga Changzhougou and Chuanlinggou Formations The diversity, relative abundance and stratigraphic ranges of microfossils in the study
New integrative stratigraphy and timescales for 13 geological periods in China from the Ediacaran to the Quaternary have recently been published in a special issue of SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences. New integrative stratigraphy and timescales for 13 geological periods in China from the Ediacaran to the Quaternary have recently been published in a special issue of SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences. The research summarizes the latest advances in stratigraphy and timescale as well as discusses the correlation among different blocks in China and with international timescales. The issue was edited by Prof. SHEN Shuzhong and Prof. RONG Jiayu of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The stratigraphic record represents a massive archive for illuminating the structure and dynamics of various biological and environmental events in deep time. Consequently, establishing timescales provides a means for precisely calibrating various major geologic and biological events. Such timescales also serve as an important reference for geological mapping in China and for intercontinental and regional correlations, which benefit all geologic disciplines and the exploration of natural resources. Over the last decade, new technologies and more high-resolution biostratigraphic work have helped improving the formulation of stratigraphic frameworks and timescales in China. This special issue highlights these advances. The issue also suggests that further refinement of chronostratigraphy and timescales in China should focus on high-quality systematic taxonomic studies of different fossil groups, using technologies including: high-resolution biostratigraphy; multidisciplinary approaches including high-precision geochronology, isotope chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and astronomical cyclostratigraphy etc.; and quantitative stratigraphy and temporal and spatial distrbutions of natural resources based on big data. The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) was founded in 1965. Its initial priority was to establish a precisely defined chronostratigraphic system globally applicable to all geoscientific fields. According to this system, 11 of 72 defined Global Stratotype Section and Points (GSSPs) are in China. This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Reference: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9280-6
Syringoporoid tabulate corals are one of the most common benthic sessile organisms in the Upper Famennian Etoucun Formation at the Huilong section, Guilin, South China. A multivariate morphometric analysis based on five morphological characters was applied to 29 coralla from three intervals in the formation. Cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling and an examination of the qualitative morphological characteristics revealed the presence of four morphospecies representing Chia hunanensis Jia, 1977, Tetraporinus virgatus Tchudinova, 1986, Fuchungopora multispinosa Lin, 1963 and a new species designated as F. huilongensis. Interval A belongs to foraminifer biozones DFZ4 to DFZ6, and contains abundant C. hunanensis and scattered coralla of T. virgatus, whereas intervals B and C which are within foraminifer biozone DFZ7, contain abundant F. multispinosa, sporadic F. huilongensis, and rare fragmented corallites of C. hunanensis. The coralla are commonly tilted or overturned, which is especially obvious in interval B and C, indicating that most of them settled on a soft substrate and were subjected to periodic high-energy events. The species of Fuchungopora display flexible growth strategies, characterized by the fusion of their corallites. The high diversity of syringoporids recorded from South China indicates an obvious radiation of the tabulate corals in the uppermost Famennian. Syringoporids accounted for the majority of tabulate corals recorded in South China in the Upper Famennian and represented a relatively high level of palaeobiodiversity before the Hangenberg Crisis. Article informaion: Liang, K.*, Qie, W.K., Pan, L.Z., Yin, B.A. 2018. Morphometrics and palaeoecology of syringoporoid tabulate corals from the upper Famennian (Devonian) Etoucun Formation, Huilong, South China. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-018-0363-y Principal coordinate analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling showing the presence of Chia hunanensis, Tetraporinus virgatus, Fuchungopora multispinosa, and Fuchungopora huilongensis from Etoucun Formation at Huilong Transverse sections showing shape of corallites in Chia hunanensis (a, b), Fuchungopora huilongensis (c, d), Fuchungopora multispinosa (e, f), and Tetraporinus virgatus (g, h)
The separation and northward drifting of the Indian plate from Gondwana to collide with Eurasia during the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic was an important event in the Earth’s history, which has shaped the modern landform and environment of the Eurasian continent. Evidence of this plate motion has been largely derived from palaeomagnetism, with little from palaeontology. Recently, researchers at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences restored this plate motion history in detail by using the pollen and spore fossils in southern Xizang, China. The researchers sampled a continuously deposited section of the Cretaceous in southern Xizang with high resolution. They first established a fine chronostratigraphic framework for the study profile through fossils of sporopollen and dinoflagellate cysts and then compared the terrestrial palynoflora of southern Xizang with that of Australia and Africa at different stages. The result shows that terrestrial floras of southern Xizang, which was situated at the northern margin of Indian plate, clearly changed from having connections with Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous to North Africa during the Late Cretaceous. The assemblages were initially similar to those from Australia in early Early Cretaceous but differed from the latter since Albian. Their differences are increasingly apparent through the Albian–Cenomanian transition. Since then, the palynomorph assemblage from southern Xizang was neither comparable to that of Australia nor Africa, showing the Indian Plate started its northward drifting as an isolate land block. The arrival of the Indian plate in equatorial regions allowed floral exchange between its northern part and North Africa during the Coniacian and Santonian. The rate of evolution of the Xizang palynoflora was about the same as that of Australia prior to the Albian, but faster from the Cenomanian onwards, implying that the tectonic movement of the Indian plate, with a connection to the break-up of Gondwana, was a fundamental driving force behind the palynofloristic changes in the Tethyan region for the Cretaceous Period. Article informaion: Li, Jianguo*, Wu, Yixiao, Peng, Jungang, Batten, D. J., 2019. Palynofloral evolution on the northern margin of the Indian Plate, southern Xizang, China during the Cretaceous Period and its phytogeographic significance. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.09.014 Restoration of the drifting history of the Indian plate based on the palynofloristic evolution of the Indian and adjacent plates from earliest to Late Cretaceous.
Selected representatives in the souterhn Xizang pollen and spore flora.
Comparison of the ratios of inceptions of new genera and species in southern Xizang and Australia at various times through the Cretaceous Period.
Fossils of Nanjinganthus Impact statement: The discovery in China of fossil specimens of a flower called Nanjinganthus from the Early Jurassic period suggests that flowers originated 50 million years earlier than previously thought. Scientists have discovered the first flower specimens dating back to the Early Jurassic epoch, more than 174 million years ago, a study in the open-access journal eLife reports. Before now, angiosperms (flowering plants) were thought to have a history of no more than 130 million years. The discovery of the novel flower species, which the study authors named Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, throws widely accepted theories of plant evolution into question, by suggesting that they existed around 50 million years earlier. Nanjinganthus also has a variety of ‘unexpected’ characteristics according to almost all of these theories. Angiosperms are an important member of the plant kingdom, and their origin has been the topic of long-standing debate among evolutionary biologists. Many previously thought angiosperms could be no more than 130 million years old. However, molecular clocks have indicated that they must be older than this. Until now, there has been no convincing fossil-based evidence to prove that they existed further back in time. “Researchers were not certain where and how flowers came into existence because it seems that many flowers just popped up in the Cretaceous period from nowhere,” explains lead author Qiang Fu, Associate Research Professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. “Studying fossil flowers, especially those from earlier geologic periods, is the only reliable way to get an answer to these questions.” The team studied 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 rock slabs from the South Xiangshan Formation – an outcrop of rocks in the Nanjing region of China renowned for bearing fossils from the Early Jurassic epoch. The abundance of fossil samples used in the study allowed the researchers to dissect some of them and study them with sophisticated microscopy, providing high-resolution pictures of the flowers from different angles and magnifications. They then used this detailed information about the shape and structure of the different fossil flowers to reconstruct the features of Nanjinganthus dendrostyla. The key feature of an angiosperm is ‘angio-ovuly’ – the presence of fully enclosed ovules, which are precursors of seeds before pollination. In the current study, the reconstructed flower was found to have a cup-form receptacle and ovarian roof thought to enclose the seeds, and enclosed ovules. This was a crucial discovery, because the presence of these features confirmed the flower’s status as an angiosperm. Although there have been reports of angiosperms from the Middle-Late Jurassic epochs in northeastern China, there are structural features of Nanjinganthus that distinguish it from these other specimens and suggest that it is a new genus of angiosperm. Having made this discovery, the team now wants to understand whether angiosperms are either monophyletic – which would mean Nanjinganthus represents a stem group giving rise to all later species – or polyphyletic, whereby Nanjinganthus represents an evolutionary dead end and has little to do with many later species. “The origin of angiosperms has long been an academic ‘headache’ for many botanists,” concludes senior author Xin Wang, Research Professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. “Our discovery has moved the botany field forward and will allow a better understanding of angiosperms, which in turn will enhance our ability to efficiently use and look after our planet’s plant-based resources.” Reference: The paper ‘An unexpected noncarpellate epigynous flower from the Jurassic of China’ can be freely accessed online at https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38827. Contents, including text, figures and data, are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Lijinganthus revoluta embedded in a Myanmar amber (Image by NIGPAS) About 140 years ago, Charles Darwin seemed to be bothered by evidence suggesting the sudden occurrence of numerous angiosperms in the mid-Cretaceous. Since Darwin's theory of evolution implies that all organisms should increase gradually, the sudden appearance of angiosperms would have represented a headache in his theory. Therefore, the sudden occurrence of numerous angiosperms (if seen by Darwin as "the origin of angiosperms") would rightfully have been mysterious and abominable to him. Over more than a century of study, however, people have found many angiosperms dating to earlier periods, suggesting the origin of angiosperms was much earlier than the mid-Cretaceous. So what was the phenomenon that bothered Darwin so much? A group led by Prof. WANG Xin from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have an answer. In the Nov. 13, 2018 online issue of Scientific Reports, the scientists describe a flower, Lijinganthus revoluta, embedded in Burmese amber dating to 99 million years ago (Ma). The fossil is exquisite and complete, including all parts of a perfect pentamerous flower, namely, the calyx, corolla, stamens, and gynoecium, and belongs to the Pentapetalae of Core Eudicots. Together with contemporaneous flowers and fruits, Lijinganthus indicates that Core Eudicots flourished on Earth about 100 Ma. Although this group can be dated back to the Barremian (about 125 Ma) by their characteristic tricolpate pollen grains, Eudicots did not dominate vegetation until about 20 million years later (mid-Cretaceous). Accompanying this Core Eudicot Boom, Gnetales and Bennettitales underwent rapid decline. Apparently, what bothered Darwin was not the assumed "origin of angiosperms" but a Core Eudicot Boom! According to current knowledge of the fossil record, angiosperms originated much earlier. The co-authors of the paper include Dr. LIU ZhongJian at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and Dr. HUANG Diying and CAI Chenyang at NIGPAS. This paper is freely available online at http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35100-4.
