Data from: Teruelia diezii gen. et sp. nov.: an early polysporangiophyte from the Lower Devonian of the Iberian Peninsula

A new basal land plant, Teruelia diezii gen. et sp. nov., is described
from the shallow-water marine deposits of the Lower Devonian
(Lochkovian–Pragian) Nogueras Formation of the Iberian Peninsula (north
Gondwana palaeocontinent). Teruelia is preserved as a compression fossil
and consists of isotomously branched, robust stems terminated in large,
fusiform, twisted sporangia. This morphology suggests that Teruelia is
very probably equivalent to Aglaophyton, a permineralized early
polysporangiophyte known up to now only from the Lower Devonian (early
Pragian to ?earliest Emsian) Rhynie Chert in Scotland (Laurussia
palaeocontinent), which represents an early terrestrial hot-spring
ecosystem. Accepted phylogenies identify Aglaophyton as sister to vascular
plants. Our phylogeny-based results identify the Aglaophyton/Teruelia
biological entity (i.e. Aglaophyton anatomical characters plus Teruelia
external morphology) as the most direct vascular plant precursor. It shows
that at least one Rhynie Chert type plant had a much wider distribution
than previously known and suggests that Aglaophyton was not restricted to
hydrothermal environments, unlike other Rhynie Chert plants.