First evidence for Wollemi Pine-type pollen (Dilwynites: Araucariaceae) in South America

We report the first fossil pollen from South America of the lineage that includes the recently discovered, extremely rare Australian Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). The grains are from the late Paleocene to early middle Eocene Ligorio Márquez Formation of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-07, Vol.8 (7), p.e69281-e69281
Main Authors: Macphail, Mike, Carpenter, Raymond J, Iglesias, Ari, Wilf, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agathis
Analysis
Angiosperms
Antarctic zone
Araucariaceae
Argentina
Biology
Coniferales
Cryptogams
Damaeus granulatus
Earth
Earth Sciences
Eocene
Eucalyptus
Fossil pollen
Fossils
Geography
Paleocene
Paleogene
Paleogene period
Pine
Pollen
Pollen - cytology
Range extension
Seeds
South America
Taxa
Tracheophyta
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Summary:We report the first fossil pollen from South America of the lineage that includes the recently discovered, extremely rare Australian Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). The grains are from the late Paleocene to early middle Eocene Ligorio Márquez Formation of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina, and are assigned to Dilwynites, the fossil pollen type that closely resembles the pollen of modern Wollemia and some species of its Australasian sister genus, Agathis. Dilwynites was formerly known only from Australia, New Zealand, and East Antarctica. The Patagonian Dilwynites occurs with several taxa of Podocarpaceae and a diverse range of cryptogams and angiosperms, but not Nothofagus. The fossils greatly extend the known geographic range of Dilwynites and provide important new evidence for the Antarctic region as an early Paleogene portal for biotic interchange between Australasia and South America.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0069281