Fruits and leaves with cuticle of Laurelia otagoensis sp. nov. (Atherospermataceae) from the early Miocene of Otago (New Zealand)

Abstract

Conran, J.G., Bannister, J.M. & Lee, D.E., 2013. Fruits and leaves with cuticle of Laurelia otagoensis sp. nov. (Atherospermataceae) from the early Miocene of Otago (New Zealand). Alcheringa 37, 496–509. ISSN 0311-5518.

Laurelia otagoensis sp. nov. Conran, Bannister & D.E. Lee (Laurales: Atherospermataceae) is described from the earliest Miocene Foulden Maar diatomite deposit, Otago, New Zealand. The new species is represented by mummified fossil leaves with well-preserved cuticle and associated clusters of achenes bearing persistent, long plumose styles. This basal angiosperm family is of significance because of its classic southern disjunctions and ecological importance in extant Gondwana-type rainforests, but has a very sparse fossil record. The present study describes one of very few convincing leaf fossils for Atherospermataceae and the only definitive fossil fruits. The presence of fossil Laurelia in Oligo–Miocene New Zealand combined with fossil leaf impressions from the late Eocene, Miocene dispersed cuticle and pollen from the Oligocene to Holocene shows that the family has had a long history in Cenozoic New Zealand. These new fossils also support palaeoclimatic data suggesting warmer conditions in the earliest Miocene of New Zealand.

John G. Conran [[email protected]], Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity and Sprigg Geobiology Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Benham Bldg DX 650 312, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia; Jennifer M. Bannister [[email protected]], Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand; Daphne E. Lee [[email protected]], Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Received 17.12.2012; revised 9.4.2013; accepted 15.4.2013.

新西兰Otago中新世早期Laurelia otagoensis sp. nov. (Atherospermataceae) 的果实和带表皮的叶

本文描述了新西兰Otago地区中新世最早期Foulden Maar硅藻土沉积物中的Laurelia otagoensis sp. nov. Conran, Bannister & D. E. Lee (Laurales: Atherospermataceae)。该新种由干化的带有保存完好的表皮的叶化石和一簇簇长形瘦果所代表。由于它的典型南部分离和它在现存冈瓦纳型雨林中的生态意义, 这个基础被子植物科很重要, 而它的化石记录很罕见。本研究仅描述了少量已确定的叶化石Atherospermataceae中的一个以及仅有的果实化石。化石Laurelia在新西兰渐新世-中新世的存在, 加上始新世晚期的印痕化石、中新世的分散表皮和渐新世至全新世的花粉, 可证明在新西兰, 该科于新生代期间有着悠久的历史。这些新化石支持古环境资料, 表明新西兰中新世最早期具有较热的气候条件。

Key words:

• Atherospermataceae
• cuticle
• fossil fruits
• fossil leaves
• Laurelia otagoensis
• Miocene
• New Zealand

Acknowledgements

We thank the landowners and, in particular, Dr A. Walker of Featherston Resources for kindly allowing us access to the site. The Departments of Geology and Botany, University of Otago, Dunedin and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide are thanked for the provision of resources to undertake this research. Funds for this study were provided by a Marsden Grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand. Prof. Zlatko Kvaček, Dr Tea Kolar-Jurkovšek and Dr Bogomir Jelen are thanked for advice on the ages of the European putative Laurelia sites, as are the Natural History Museum, Vienna, and Dr Andreas Kroh for photographs of the Ettingshausen leaf material from Zavine. Peter Wilf is thanked for comments and access to unpublished data on South American fossil Atherospermataceae.