Premium
CAESALPINIA SUBGENUS MEZONEURON (LEGUMINOSAE, CAESALPINIOIDEAE) FROM THE TERTIARY OF NORTH AMERICA
Author(s) -
Herendeen Patrick S.,
Dilcher David L.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1991.tb12566.x
Subject(s) - subgenus , caesalpinioideae , caesalpinia , extant taxon , biology , taxon , paleontology , fabaceae , botany , genus , evolutionary biology
Legume fruits from the Eocene of Tennessee and Wyoming and the Miocene of Idaho are described and assigned to Caesalpinia subgenus Mezoneuron (Caesalpinioideae), an extant Paleotropical taxon that does not occur in North or South America today. Morphological and anatomical details of the fruits are used in evaluating their systematic relationships. The features of the fossil fruits are accommodated only within this extant subgenus. These fossils represent the only reliable known occurrence of C. subgenus Mezoneuron in the paleobotanical record. These fossils suggest that subgenus Mezoneuron was distinct from subgenus Caesalpinia by the Middle Eocene. Further, they document the widespread occurrence of this currently Paleotropical group for at least 30 million years in North America.