Rapid Eocene diversification of spiny plants in subtropical woodlands of central Tibet.

ABSTRACT: Spinescence is an important functional trait possessed by many plant species for physical defence against mammalian herbivores. The development of spinescence must have been closely associated with both biotic and abiotic factors in the geological past, but knowledge of spinescence evolution suffers from a dearth of fossil records, with most studies focusing on spatial patterns and spinescence-herbivore interactions in modern ecosystems. Numerous well-preserved Eocene (~39 Ma) plant fossils exhibiting seven different spine morphologies discovered recently in the central Tibetan Plateau, combined with molecular phylogenetic character reconstruction, point not only to the presence of a diversity of spiny plants in Eocene central Tibet but a rapid diversification of spiny plants in Eurasia ar

SUBMITTER: Zhang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9249787 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature