Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Palaeobotany

Swimming sperm in an extinct Gondwanan plant

Nature volume 422, pages 396–397 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The now-extinct plant Glossopteris that dominated the Southern Hemisphere (Gondwana) during the Permian period serves as early evidence of continental drift1,2, and may be ancestral to the group of seed plants known as angiosperms3. Here we describe a 250-million-year-old fossil from Homevale in Queensland, Australia, of anatomically preserved pollen tubes and swimming male gametes from Glossopteris. The discovery of this simple reproductive system in Glossopteris has implications for its phylogenetic relationships with extant groups of seed plants (conifers and flowering plants, for example) and for the evolution of pollination biology in general.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Fossil motile sperm in a Late Permian Glossopteris ovule.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gould, R. E. & Delevoryas, T. Alcheringa 1, 387–399 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pigg, K. B. & McLoughlin, S. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 97, 339–359 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Retallack, G. & Dilcher, D. L. Paleobiology 7, 54–67 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Li, Y. et al. Protoplasma 149, 57–63 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Norstog, K. J. Bot. Gaz. 147, 40–46 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bierhorst, D. W. Morphology of Vascular Plants (Macmillan, New York, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gifford, E. M. & Foster, A. S. Morphology and Evolution of Vascular Plants 3rd edn (Freeman, New York, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hirase, S. Bot. Mag. Tokyo 10, 325–328 (1896).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ikeno, S. Bot. Mag. Tokyo 10, 367–368 (1896).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Chamberlain, C. J. Gymnosperms (Univ. Chicago Press, 1935).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Cass, D. & Jensen, W. A. Am. J. Bot. 57, 2–70 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Stewart, W. N. Am. Midl. Natur. 46, 717–742 (1951).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rothwell, G. W. & Stockey, R. A. Botany 2001 Abstracts 25 (2001).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 112-8551, Japan

    Harufumi Nishida

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Box 871601

    Kathleen B. Pigg

  3. Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287-1601, Arizona, USA

    Kathleen B. Pigg

  4. School of Natural Resource Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Box 2434, Brisbane, 4001, Queensland, Australia

    John F. Rigby

Authors
  1. Harufumi Nishida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathleen B. Pigg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John F. Rigby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harufumi Nishida.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nishida, H., Pigg, K. & Rigby, J. Swimming sperm in an extinct Gondwanan plant. Nature 422, 396–397 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/422396a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/422396a

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing