Publication Date:
2019
Description:
〈p〉The beech-oak family Fagaceae dominates forests from the northern temperate zone to tropical Asia and Malesia, where it reaches its southern limit. We report early Eocene infructescences of 〈i〉Castanopsis〈/i〉, 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 〈i〉Castanopsis〈/i〉 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.〈/p〉
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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