A Late Devonian tree lycopsid with large strobili and isotomous roots

• Published in: Communications biology Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 966
• Main Authors: Liu, Le, Wang, De-Ming, Zhou, Yi, Qin, Min, Ferguson, David K., Meng, Mei-Cen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.09.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/181/414; 631/449/2669; Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Branches; Devonian; Etymology; Flowers & plants; Life Sciences; New species; Paleozoic; Roots; Terrestrial ecosystems; Trees
• ISSN: 2399-3642; 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03934-4

Tree lycopsids prospered in the Late Devonian and constituted a major part of the Late Paleozoic forest ecosystem that deeply impacted the Earth’s climate. However, the fertile organs of these early tree lycopsids display low morphological disparity, which has hampered further knowledge about their ecological habit. Here, we report Omprelostrobus gigas gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) Wutong Formation at Changxing, Zhejiang, China. The collection includes aerial axes, strobili and associated roots. The strobili are the largest among coeval lycopsids to our knowledge, and are divided into proximal and distal portions by dimorphic sporophylls with differentiated laminae and probable strong photosynthetic capacity. The associated but not attached roots displaying multiple isotomous branches lack rootlets and typical rootlet scars. The varied strobili sizes of early tree lycopsids were relatively independent of their body plan, but the large strobili could suggest increased reproductive investment to overcome the disadvantages of the disturbed flooded habitat. A new species of Late Devonian fossil lycopsid with large strobili and differentiated sporophylls provides insight into reproductive investment of early tree lycopsids.