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Late Eocene leaves of Nageia (section Dammaroideae ) from Maoming Basin, South China and their implications on phytogeography
Author(s) -
Liu XiaoYan,
Gao Qi,
Jin JianHua
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of systematics and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.249
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1759-6831
pISSN - 1674-4918
DOI - 10.1111/jse.12133
Subject(s) - extant taxon , phytogeography , china , structural basin , geography , habitat , section (typography) , subtropics , ecology , paleontology , geology , biology , archaeology , evolutionary biology , advertising , taxon , business
A new species of Nageia , Nageia maomingensis sp. nov., is described from the Late Eocene of Maoming Basin, Guangdong Province, South China. According to its cuticular characteristics, the present fossil species is assigned to N . sect. Dammaroideae , showing the most resemblance to the extant species N. motleyi (Parl.) de Laub. At present, this section is mainly distributed in the Pacific islands region from South Asia to New Guinea. The discovery of N. maomingensis demonstrates that plants of this section inhabited South China at least by the Eocene. The distribution and living habitat of extant N . sect. Dammaroideae imply that South China was warmer during the Late Eocene than today, and may represent one of the centers for early diversification of Nageia and its section Dammaroideae during the Eocene. In addition, we postulate that plants of sect. Dammaroideae migrated southward in response to climate cooling after the Eocene.