Three moss genera from the Middle Miocene of Fujian, southeastern China

Cenozoic bryophytes are rare in Asia. Zhangpu amber is the only known Cenozoic amber containing bryophyte fossils in low latitudes of China. Zhangpu amber was formed during the warmest period of the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, ~14 to 17 Ma), which is also well known for the appearance of Dipterocarpaceae-dominated megathermal seasonal rainforests. The warm and humid climate of these forests may have triggered the diversity, evolution, and three-dimensional preservation of bryophytes. Here, three moss genera, including Leucobryum Hampe, Anomodon Hook. Et Taylor and Homalia (Brid.) B.S.G., are reported from the Middle Miocene Zhangpu amber, Fujian Province, China. This study also includes the first study of an amber inclusion of Leucobryum utilizing X-ray microcomputed tomography. The new fossil specimen, assigned to Leucobryum cf. humillimum, is most similar to extant Leucobryum humillimum Cardot. The new Anomodon and Homalia specimens represent the first fossil records preserved in amber from East Asia. The fossil mosses from Zhangpu amber increase the bryophyte diversity in the Middle Miocene and enrich the poor Cenozoic bryophyte fossil record in the low latitudes of East Asia.

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