Late Cretaceous origin of the rice tribe provides evidence for early diversification in Poaceae

V. Prasad, C.A.E. Strömberg (), A.D. Leaché, B. Samant, R. Patnaik, L. Tang, D.M. Mohabey, S. Ge and A. Sahni
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V. Prasad: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
C.A.E. Strömberg: University of Washington
A.D. Leaché: University of Washington
B. Samant: Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University
R. Patnaik: Centre for Petroleum and Applied Geology, Panjab University
L. Tang: State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
D.M. Mohabey: Geological Survey of India
S. Ge: State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
A. Sahni: Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Lucknow University

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Rice and its relatives are a focal point in agricultural and evolutionary science, but a paucity of fossils has obscured their deep-time history. Previously described cuticles with silica bodies (phytoliths) from the Late Cretaceous period (67–65 Ma) of India indicate that, by the latest Cretaceous, the grass family (Poaceae) consisted of members of the modern subclades PACMAD (Panicoideae–Aristidoideae–Chloridoideae–Micrairoideae–Arundinoideae–Danthonioideae) and BEP (Bambusoideae–Ehrhartoideae–Pooideae), including a taxon with proposed affinities to Ehrhartoideae. Here we describe additional fossils and show that, based on phylogenetic analyses that combine molecular genetic data and epidermal and phytolith features across Poaceae, these can be assigned to the rice tribe, Oryzeae, of grass subfamily Ehrhartoideae. The new Oryzeae fossils suggest substantial diversification within Ehrhartoideae by the Late Cretaceous, pushing back the time of origin of Poaceae as a whole. These results, therefore, necessitate a re-evaluation of current models for grass evolution and palaeobiogeography.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1482

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