Project 4356: M. A. Gandolfo, A. A. Farke, E. J. Hermsen, M. C. Zamaloa, K. C. Nixon, C. C. González, P. Wilf, N. R. Cúneo, K. R. Johnson. 2011. Oldest Known Eucalyptus Macrofossils Are from South America. PLOS ONE. 6 (6):e21084.
Abstract
The evolutionary history of Eucalyptus and the eucalypts, the larger clade of seven genera including Eucalyptus that today have a natural distribution almost exclusively in Australasia, is poorly documented from the fossil record. Little physical evidence exists bearing on the ancient geographical distributions or morphologies of plants within the clade. Herein, we introduce fossil material of Eucalyptus from the early Eocene (ca. 51.9 Ma) Laguna del Hunco paleoflora of Chubut Province, Argentina; specimens include multiple leaves, infructescences, and dispersed capsules, several flower buds, and a single flower. Morphological similarities that relate the fossils to extant eucalypts include leaf shape, venation, and epidermal oil glands; infructescence structure; valvate capsulate fruits; and operculate flower buds. The presence of a staminophore scar on the fruits links them to Eucalyptus, and the presence of a transverse scar on the flower buds indicates a relationship to Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus. Phylogeneticanalyses of morphological data alone and combined with aligned sequence data from a prior study including 16 extant eucalypts, one outgroup, and a terminal representing the fossils indicate that the fossils are nested within Eucalyptus. These are the only illustrated Eucalyptus fossils that are definitively Eocene in age, and the only conclusively identified extant or fossil eucalypts naturally occurring outside of Australasia and adjacent Mindanao. Thus, these fossils indicate that the evolution of the eucalypt group is not constrained to a single region. Moreover, they strengthen the taxonomic connections between the Laguna del Hunco paleoflora and extant subtropical and tropical Australasia, one of the three major ecologic-geographic elements of the Laguna del Hunco paleoflora. The age and affinities of the fossils also indicate that Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus is older than previously supposed. Paleoecological data indicate that the Patagonian Eucalyptus dominated volcanically disturbed areas adjacent to standing rainforest surrounding an Eocene caldera lake.
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Article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021084
Project DOI: 10.7934/P4356, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P4356
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 752 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 43 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 101 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:43/0 |
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MorphoBank Project 4356
MorphoBank Project 4356
- Creation Date:
05 August 2022 - Publication Date:
09 August 2022 - Project views: 7249
- Matrix downloads: 1
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio
- Cornell University
- Pennsylvania State University
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
- Universidad de Buenos Aires
- Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
MorphoBank Curator Project Administrator | 18 | 9 | 9 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 752 (739, 0, 13) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Maria Alejandra Gandolfo Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M28904' (18 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Lophostemon Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 7 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[2] Stockwellia Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 11 | 31 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[3] Eucalyptopsis Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 11 | 33 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[4] Allosyncarpia Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 14 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[5] Arillastrum Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 4 | 39 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[6] Angophora costata Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 47 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[7] Angophora floribunda Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 46 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[8] Angophora hispida Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 47 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[9] Corymbia sub Corymbia Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 49 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[10] Corymbia sect Naviculares Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 2 | 43 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[11] Corymbia sect Abbreviatae Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 2 | 44 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[12] Eucalyptus deglupta Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 49 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[13] Eucalyptus camaldulensis Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 47 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[14] Eucalyptus pleurocarpa Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 45 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[15] Eucalyptus erythrocorys Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 1 | 44 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[16] Eucalyptus cloeziana Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 2 | 44 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[17] Eucalyptus sub Eucalyptus Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 0 | 50 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[18] † Patagonian fossils Last Modified in 08/09/22 | 26 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 7249 | |
Documents list | 267 | |
Project overview | 377 | |
Matrix views | 282 | Matrix landing page (260 views); Morphology Matrix (22 views); |
Media views | 2346 | Media search (939 views); M846608 (148 views); M846603 (159 views); M846611 (150 views); M846605 (161 views); M846607 (154 views); M846609 (153 views); M846610 (156 views); M846606 (164 views); M846604 (162 views); |
Bibliography | 211 | |
Taxon list | 1151 | |
Specimen list | 1946 | |
Views for media list | 669 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 2 | |
Project downloads | 1 | |
Matrix downloads | 1 | Morphology Matrix (1 download); |