Gumuia
Temporal range: Early Devonian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Lycophytes
Plesion: †Zosterophylls
Genus: †Gumuia
S.G.Hao (1989)[1]
Species

†G. zyzzata S.G.Hao (1989)[1]

Gumuia is a genus of extinct vascular plants of the Early Devonian (Pragian or Siegenian, around 410 million years ago). The genus was first described in 1989 based on fossil specimens from the Posongchong Formation, Wenshan district, Yunnan, China.

Description and phylogeny

The sporophyte of G. zyzzata consisted of leafless stems (axes) with an apparently sympodial organization. Fertile stems had a spike-like organization, with both lateral and terminal sporangia (spore-forming organs); successive sporangia developed on alternate sides of short stems. The genus was tentatively placed in the "zosterophylls".[1]

A cladogram published in 2004 by Crane et al. places Gumia in a paraphyletic stem group of broadly defined "zosterophylls", basal to the lycopsids (living and extinct clubmosses and relatives).[2]

lycophytes
       

† Hicklingia

 †basal groups 

Adoketophyton, Discalis, Distichophytum (=Rebuchia), Gumuia, Huia, Zosterophyllum myretonianum, Z. llanoveranum, Z. fertile

 †'core' zosterophylls 

Zosterophyllum divaricatum, Tarella, Oricilla, Gosslingia, Hsua, Thrinkophyton, Protobarinophyton, Barinophyton obscurum, B. citrulliforme, Sawdonia, Deheubarthia, Konioria, Anisophyton, Serrulacaulis, Crenaticaulis

 †basal groups 

Nothia, Zosterophyllum deciduum

 lycopsids 

extant and extinct members

Hao and Xue in 2013 listed the genus as a zosterophyll.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hao, Shou-Gang (1989), "Gumuia zyzzata—a new plant from the Lower Devonian of Yunnan, China", Acta Botanica Sinica (in Chinese and English), 31 (12): 954–961, retrieved 2011-02-08 (the English title in the online version has the misspelling "Gumoia")
  2. ^ Crane, P.R.; Herendeen, P.; Friis, E.M. (2004), "Fossils and plant phylogeny", American Journal of Botany, 91 (10): 1683–99, doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1683, PMID 21652317
  3. ^ Hao, Shougang & Xue, Jinzhuang (2013), The early Devonian Posongchong flora of Yunnan: a contribution to an understanding of the evolution and early diversification of vascular plants, Beijing: Science Press, p. 329, ISBN 978-7-03-036616-0, retrieved 2019-10-25

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