A Small Heterophyllous Vine Climbing on Psaronius and Cordaites Trees in the Earliest Permian Forests of North China

Premise of research. Climbing plants are important components of modern-day tropical forests and primarily comprise angiosperms, but in Paleozoic tropical forests, pteridosperms were the dominant climbers. Climbing pteridosperms are well known from the Paleozoic floras of Euramerica, while much less is known about climbing pteridosperms from other phytogeographic regions. We document from the earliest Permian Taiyuan Formation of Cathaysia a new genus and species of a small vine preserved in situ and in 3D in a volcanic tuff bed from the Wuda locality. We consider the affinity and ecology of the new plant and evaluate its abundance and distribution in the Wuda forest community.Methodology. Macrofossils were prepared by degagement, and sharpened needles were used to expose the plant from the overlying sediment. Anatomy was revealed by petrological thin sections. Key features of the plant were observed under scanning electron microscopy.Pivotal results. Only the aerial organs of the plant are known, and the...