早白垩世红豆杉属化石表皮构造的探索性研究

Exploratory Study of the Epidermal Structure of the Early Cretaceous Taxus Fossils

采自内蒙古固阳盆地早白垩世地层的红豆杉属化石形态保存完整,但叶的角质层保存不佳。用几种不同的实验方法对当前化石叶的表皮特征进行了探索性研究。实验结果表明,仅方法Ⅳ成功获得了较清晰的表皮构造特征,为该化石的分类鉴定提供了重要的微观构造特征。具体实验步骤如下:首先对化石表面进行恰当的化学处理,清除化石表面的杂质、矿物等,仅在岩石表面留下叶化石的印痕,再利用扫描电镜进行观察。该方法弥补了当植物化石角质层缺失或保存不佳时通过传统的角质层分析方法无法获得表皮特征的缺陷,为研究植物化石的微细构造提供了新的方法和途径。

The Taxus fossils from the Lower Cretaceous of Guyang Basin in Inner Mongolia are well preserved in morphology, but the leaf cuticle is preserved badly. The leaf epidermis structure of Taxus is studied by several different experimental methods. The results show that the epidermal structure can be obtained only based on the Method IV, which provides important micro - structure characteristics for the identification of the genus Taxus. The experiment steps are as follows ： firstly, removing impurities and minerals on the surface of fossil leaves with appropriate chemical treatment leaving the impressions of leaf fossil on the surface of surrounding rock, then ob- serving the fossil impressions under SEM. Generally speaking, it is difficult to obtain the leaf epidermis structure when the cuticle of fossil plant was void or badly preserved based on the traditional cuticle analysis techniques. Fortunately, in this paper, this method could make up the shortcoming of the traditional techniques and provide a new alternative approach for studying the fossil plant.