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

Xinwen Zhang; Uriel Gélin; Robert A. Spicer; Feixiang Wu; Alexander Farnsworth; Peirong Chen; Cédric Del Rio; Shufeng Li; Jia Liu; Jian Huang; Teresa E.V. Spicer; Kyle W. Tomlinson; Paul J. Valdes; Xiaoting Xu; Shitao Zhang; Tao Deng; Zhekun Zhou; Tao Su

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31512-z

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

Xinwen Zhang, Uriel Gélin, Robert A. Spicer, Feixiang Wu, Alexander Farnsworth, Peirong Chen, Cédric Del Rio, Shufeng Li, Jia Liu, Jian Huang, Teresa E.V. Spicer, Kyle W. Tomlinson, Paul J. Valdes, Xiaoting Xu, Shitao Zhang, Tao Deng, Zhekun Zhou, Tao Su^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

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 around that time. These spiny plants occupied an open woodland landscape, indicated by numerous megafossils and grass phytoliths found in the same deposits, as well as numerical climate and vegetation modelling. Our study shows that regional aridification and expansion of herbivorous mammals may have driven the diversification of functional spinescence in central Tibetan woodlands, ~24 million years earlier than similar transformations in Africa.

Original language	English
Article number	3787
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31512-z
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful to members of the Paleoecology Research Group at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) who participated in numerous fossil collection expeditions on the Tibetan Plateau. We thank Professor Houyuan Lu and Professor Caroline A.E. Strömberg for contributions to the identification of phytoliths; the Central Laboratory of Public Technology Service Center of XTBG for help with photography. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 41988101 and 41922010), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition programme (No. 2019QZKK0705), Natural Environment Research Council of the UK (NERC) (Nos. 41661134049 and NE/P013805/1), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Nos. XDA20070301 and XDB26000000), Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (No. Y2021105), and the West Light Foundation, CAS (No. 2020000023).

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Zhang, X., Gélin, U., Spicer, R. A., Wu, F., Farnsworth, A., Chen, P., Del Rio, C., Li, S., Liu, J., Huang, J., Spicer, T. E. V., Tomlinson, K. W., Valdes, P. J., Xu, X., Zhang, S., Deng, T., Zhou, Z., & Su, T. (2022). Rapid Eocene diversification of spiny plants in subtropical woodlands of central Tibet. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 3787. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31512-z

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title = "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 around that time. These spiny plants occupied an open woodland landscape, indicated by numerous megafossils and grass phytoliths found in the same deposits, as well as numerical climate and vegetation modelling. Our study shows that regional aridification and expansion of herbivorous mammals may have driven the diversification of functional spinescence in central Tibetan woodlands, ~24 million years earlier than similar transformations in Africa.",

author = "Xinwen Zhang and Uriel G{\'e}lin and Spicer, {Robert A.} and Feixiang Wu and Alexander Farnsworth and Peirong Chen and {Del Rio}, C{\'e}dric and Shufeng Li and Jia Liu and Jian Huang and Spicer, {Teresa E.V.} and Tomlinson, {Kyle W.} and Valdes, {Paul J.} and Xiaoting Xu and Shitao Zhang and Tao Deng and Zhekun Zhou and Tao Su",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to members of the Paleoecology Research Group at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) who participated in numerous fossil collection expeditions on the Tibetan Plateau. We thank Professor Houyuan Lu and Professor Caroline A.E. Str{\"o}mberg for contributions to the identification of phytoliths; the Central Laboratory of Public Technology Service Center of XTBG for help with photography. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 41988101 and 41922010), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition programme (No. 2019QZKK0705), Natural Environment Research Council of the UK (NERC) (Nos. 41661134049 and NE/P013805/1), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Nos. XDA20070301 and XDB26000000), Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (No. Y2021105), and the West Light Foundation, CAS (No. 2020000023). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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AU - Spicer, Robert A.

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AU - Farnsworth, Alexander

AU - Chen, Peirong

AU - Del Rio, Cédric

AU - Li, Shufeng

AU - Liu, Jia

AU - Huang, Jian

AU - Spicer, Teresa E.V.

AU - Tomlinson, Kyle W.

AU - Valdes, Paul J.

AU - Xu, Xiaoting

AU - Zhang, Shitao

AU - Deng, Tao

AU - Zhou, Zhekun

AU - Su, Tao

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N2 - 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 around that time. These spiny plants occupied an open woodland landscape, indicated by numerous megafossils and grass phytoliths found in the same deposits, as well as numerical climate and vegetation modelling. Our study shows that regional aridification and expansion of herbivorous mammals may have driven the diversification of functional spinescence in central Tibetan woodlands, ~24 million years earlier than similar transformations in Africa.

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JO - Nature Communications

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

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