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EVIDENCE OF SIMPLE POLYEMBRYONY IN PERMIAN SEEDS FROM ANTARCTICA
Author(s) -
Smoot Edith L.,
Taylor Thomas N.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1986.tb08552.x
Subject(s) - polyembryony , biology , permian , suspensor , extant taxon , embryo , megaspore , botany , asexual reproduction , paleontology , gametophyte , multicellular organism , zygote , ovule , evolutionary biology , pollen , embryogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , structural basin , gene
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.