The smallest Zosterophyllum plant from the Lower Devonian of South China and the divergent life-history strategies in zosterophyllopsids.

Abstract

Plants have evolved different life-history strategies to overcome limited amounts of available resources; however, when and how divergent strategies of sexual reproduction evolved in early land plants are not well understood. As one of the notable and vital components of early terrestrial vegetation, the Zosterophyllopsida and its type genus Zosterophyllum reached maximum species diversity during the Pragian (Early Devonian; ca 410.8-407.6 million years ago). Here we describe a new species, Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov., based on well-preserved specimens from the Pragian-aged Mangshan Group of Duyun, Guizhou Province, China. The new plant is characterized by its small size, K-shaped branching and tiny spikes with 5-10 sporangia. This plant is most likely r-selected, completing its whole lifespan in a short time, and such a strategy contributes to reproduction in a suitable window time. In contrast, most other species of Zosterophyllum and the zosterophyllopsids on a broader scale are larger in body size and have greater investments in fertile tissues, reflected in the size and total number of sporangia. We argue that the zosterophyllopsids probably benefited from the divergence of various life-history strategies and thus constituted a major part of the Early Devonian floras.