The First Observation on Plant Cell Fossils in China

For a long time, paleontologists have been focusing on hard parts of organisms during different geological periods while soft parts are rarely reported. Well-preserved plant cells, if found in fossils, are treated only as a rarity. Recent prowess in research on fossil cytoplasm indicates that plant cytoplasm not only has excellent ultrastructures preserved but also may be a quite commonly seen fossil in strata. However, up to now there is no report of plant cell fossils in China yet. Here plant cell fossils are reported from Huolinhe Coal Mine （the early Cretaceous）, Inner Mongolia, China. The presence of plant cytoplasm fossils in two cones on the same specimen not only provides further support for the recently proposed hypothesis on plant cytoplasm fossilization but also marks the first record of plant cytoplasm fossils in China, which suggests a great research potential in this new area.