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Abstract
Pole, M., December, 2008. The record of Araucariaceae macrofossils in New Zealand. Alcheringa 32, 405–426. ISSN 0311-5518.
The Araucariaceae have a long record in New Zealand, extending back to the Jurassic at least, and Araucaria extends back to at least the Late Cretaceous. This paper reviews the macrofossil record of the family and presents new information based largely on the leaf cuticle record. Agathis, which is the only genus of the family currently growing in New Zealand, has no record before the Cenozoic. All specimens previously identified from pre-Cenozoic strata clearly belong to other taxa or do not show characteristic features of the genus. Araucariaceae macrofossils are virtually ubiquitous in the Cretaceous assemblages of New Zealand but are conspicuous by their absence or rarity in Palaeocene deposits. Their demise may be an expression of events at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Dr Norton Hiller of the Canterbury Museum, for permission to sample the Daniel collection, to Dr Neville Hudson, Geology Department, University of Auckland, for permission to photograph the Great Barrier Island material, to Dr William Loh, for slide scanning, and to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, the Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and Queensland Herbarium, for access to their collections. The comments of three anonymous reviewers and editorial assistance were much appreciated.
