An edible fruit from the Jurassic of China

作者：Li-jun Chen,Ye-mao Hou,Peng-fei Yin,Xin Wang

摘要：Frugivory is an important ecological tie between animals and angiosperms.It plays an important role in the evolution of food webs and energy flow networks in the ecosystem.However,little is known about how old this relationship can be due to lack of relevant fossil evidence.Here,the authors report a fossil fruit,Jurafructus gen.nov.,a putative angiosperm from the Middle-Late Jurassic(>164 Ma)of Daohugou Village,Inner Mongolia,China,which provides the currently earliest evidence of frugivory.The fossil is a more or less three-dimensionally preserved coalified drupe that has been damaged by animals in two different ways.The pericarp,in addition to the seed coat surrounding parenchyma seed contents,is suggestive of an angiospermous affinity,as such a 3+3 structure is distinct from a three-layered seed coat in gymnosperms.The seed possesses a distal micropyle,attached on the base of the pericarp,suggestive of a former orthotropous ovule in the gynoecium.The damaged pericarp of Jurafructus suggests that firugivory can be dated back to the Middle-Late Jurassic.Apparently,the ecological relationship between angiosperms and animals extends deep into the fossil record.

發文機構：Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Orchid Conservation and Utilization Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy Department of Geology

關鍵詞：JurafructusJURASSICANGIOSPERMEvolutionANIMALSFRUGIVORYFRUITChina

分類號： X70[環境科學與工程—環境工程]