First fossil fruits of Elaeocarpus (Elaeocarpaceae) in East Asia: Implications for phytogeography and paleoecology

Abstract

The genus Elaeocarpus contains approximately 360 species and occurs in mesic forest communities from India, through to China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and New Caledonia. Elaeocarpus fossils are best known from the Eocene to the Miocene of Australia and the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene of India, but have not been documented from East Asia before. Here we describe six new species of Elaeocarpus, E. nanningensis sp. nov. from the late Oligocene Yongning Formation of the Nanning Basin, E. presikkimensis sp. nov. from the Miocene Erzitang Formation of the Guiping Basin, E. prerugosus sp. nov., E. prelacunosus sp. nov., E. preserratus sp. nov., and E. preprunifolioides sp. nov. from the late Miocene Foluo Formation of the Nankang Basin in Guangxi, South China. This is the first reliable report for the genus occurring in East Asia, and the fossils indicate that Elaeocarpus had colonized this region by the late Oligocene and represented by a morphologically diverse group of species by the late Miocene. This sheds new insights into the timing and migration patterns of the genus in East Asia. Elaeocarpus is typically a rainforest genus occurring in mesic forests. Based on the habitat of their morphologically similar modern relatives we propose that these three sedimentary basins were warm and wet adjacent to mountainous regions with the evergreen or rain forests during the late Oligocene to Miocene.

Diversification of East Asian subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests over the last 8 million years

“…Lastly, attention should be paid to the inconsistencies between fossil and genetic evidence. Several fossil sited and many evergreen elements have been found in EBLFs, such as Castanopsis nanningensis , C. guangxiensis , Elaeocarpus nanningensis , and Lithocarpoxylon nanningensis in the Yongning Formation (Huang et al, 2018 ); Mahonia ningmingensis in the Ningming Formation (Hu et al, 2017 ); Elaeocarpus presikkimensis in the Erzitang Formation; and Elaeocarpus prerugosus , E. prelacunosus , E. preserratus , and E. preprunifolioides in the Foluo Formation (Liu et al, 2022 ). Geological ages of these formations range from the Oligocene to the late Miocene (Hu et al, 2017 ; Huang et al, 2018 ; Liu et al, 2022 ), indicating that EBLFs may have even earlier origins than suggested by phylogenetic reconstructions based on genetic data.…”

Effect of Media and Calcium on the Micropropagation of Rudrakhsa (Eleocarpus ganitrus Roxb.)

“…Rudraksha beads, which are essentially dried seeds from the tree, stand out as the most expensive and valuable seeds worldwide. This family includes 360 Elaeocarpus species, with 25 thriving in India's Gangetic plains and Himalayan regions [1]. In Tamil Nadu alone, researchers have identified eleven Elaeocarpus species, eight of which are specifically found in the Western Ghats.…”