Runcaria, a Middle Devonian Seed Plant Precursor

@article{Gerrienne2004RuncariaAM,
  title={Runcaria, a Middle Devonian Seed Plant Precursor},
  author={Philippe Gerrienne and Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud and Muriel Fairon‐Demaret and Maurice Streel and Philippe Steemans},
  journal={Science},
  year={2004},
  volume={306},
  pages={856 - 858}
}
The emergence of the seed habit in the Middle Paleozoic was a decisive evolutionary breakthrough. Today, seed plants are the most successful plant lineage, with more than 250,000 living species. We have identified a middle Givetian (385 million years ago) seed precursor from Belgium predating the earliest seeds by about 20 million years. Runcaria is a small, radially symmetrical, integumented megasporangium surrounded by a cupule. The megasporangium bears an unopened distal extension protruding… Expand
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The main steps leading to the acquisition, during the Palaeozoic, of the seed habit are discussed, and the earliest seeds containing embryos are reported in Carboniferous coniferophytes. Expand
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TLDR
Cosmosperma Wang et al. represents the first Devonian ovules recovered from China or eastern Asia and further illustrates the diversity of early spermatophytes. Expand
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TLDR
The earliest axes exceeding 10 cm in diameter, and presumed to represent small trees, evolved in the Middle Devonian (about 395 million years), and are characterized by a symmetrical development of the aerial and underground parts that branch dichotomously. Expand
Omniastrobus gen. nov., an Emsian Plant with Implications for the Evolution of Heterospory in the Early Devonian
Premise of research. Heterospory, or the production of different spore size classes, is a key aspect of advanced vascular plant reproductive strategies. Heterospory is widespread across plant… Expand
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