EVIDENCE OF SIMPLE POLYEMBRYONY IN PERMIAN SEEDS FROM ANTARCTICA

Well‐preserved seeds with multiple embryos are described from the Permian of the Beardmore Glacier region, Antarctica. The seeds are platyspermic, winged and contain two archegonia in the micropylar end. Each archegonium contains an undifferentiated, multicellular embryo at a comparable stage of dev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American Journal of Botany
Main Authors: Smoot, Edith L., Taylor, Thomas N.
Other Authors: National Science Foundation
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1986
Subjects:
Beardmore
Beardmore Glacier
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1986.tb08552.x
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Description
Summary:Well‐preserved seeds with multiple embryos are described from the Permian of the Beardmore Glacier region, Antarctica. The seeds are platyspermic, winged and contain two archegonia in the micropylar end. Each archegonium contains an undifferentiated, multicellular embryo at a comparable stage of development. Attached to one end of each embryo is an elongate structure similar to the suspensor in extant gymnosperms. This discovery represents the earliest example of simple polyembryony yet recorded from the fossil record.

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