Eocene Fagaceae from Patagonia and Gondwanan legacy in Asian rainforests

We report early Eocene infructescences of Castanopsis, a diverse and abundant fagaceous genus of Southeast Asia, and co-occurring leaves from the 52-million-year-old Laguna del Hunco flora of southern Argentina. The fossil assemblage notably includes many plant taxa that associate with Castanopsis today. The discovery reveals novel Gondwanan history in Fagaceae and the characteristic tree communities of Southeast Asian lower-montane rainforests. The living diaspora associations persisted through Cenozoic climate change and plate movements as the constituent lineages tracked post-Gondwanan mesic biomes over thousands of kilometers, underscoring their current vulnerability to rapid climate change and habitat loss.

Source: ScienceNOW - June 5, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Wilf, P., Nixon, K. C., Gandolfo, M. A., Cuneo, N. R. Tags: Online Only, Paleontology r-articles Source Type: news