A Devonian fish fauna from subsurface sediments in the eastern Officer Basin,South Australia |
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Authors: | Mike Pole |
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Affiliation: | 1. Queensland Herbarium , Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, Mt Coot-tha Rd, Toowong, Qld, 4066, Australia murihiku@yahoo.com |
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Abstract: | This paper reports the discovery of three of the most iconic New Caledonian endemic genera, Amphorogyne, Paracryphia and Phelline, as dispersed leaf cuticle fossils in the early Miocene of New Zealand. New Caledonia's endemic angiosperm families have given it a reputation as one of the most interesting botanical regions in the world, but unfortunately it has no known pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic plant fossil record. A once more widespread distribution of its key plants in the context of a cooling and drying Neogene world suggests the current vegetation of New Caledonia is the result of contraction, or even a migration, from more southerly landmasses. Thus, New Zealand may have been a source of at least some of New Caledonia's plants. |
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Keywords: | New Zealand Amphorogyne Paracryphia Miocene cuticle cuticle dispersal biogeography |
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