New fossil seeds of Eurya (Theaceae) from East Asia and their paleobiogeographic implications

Abstract

Eurya has an excellent fossil record in Europe, but it has only a few fossil occurrences in East Asia though this vast area houses the highest modern diversity of the genus. In this study, three-dimensionally preserved fossil seeds of Eurya stigmosa (Ludwig) Mai from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan, southwestern China are described. The seeds are compressed and flattened, slightly campylotropous, and nearly circular to slightly angular in shape. The surface of the seeds is sculptured by a distinctive foveolate pattern, consisting of funnel-shaped and finely pitted cells. Each seed valve contains a reniform or horseshoe-shaped embryo cavity, a characteristic condyle structure and an internal raphe. These fossil seeds represent one of the few fossil records of Eurya in East Asia. This new finding therefore largely extends the distributional ranges of Eurya during Neogene. Fossil records summarized here show that Eurya persisted in Europe until the early Pleistocene, but disappeared thereafter. The genus might have first appeared in East Asia no later than the late Oligocene, and dispersed widely in regions such as Japan, Nepal, and southwestern China.

Fruit fossils of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China

“…The time interval for lacustrine sediments of the Sanying Formation is late Pliocene, as corroborated by independent evidence from different disciplines (Tao, 1986;Ge & Li, 1999;Su et al, 2011;Li et al, 2013). The claystone in the upper part includes many carbonaceous clay layers that contain abundant plant remains in the form of wood fragments, fruits, and seeds (Zhu et al, 2016). As the leaf assemblage in the underlying grayish siltstone points to the late Pliocene Sanying Formation, we consider that these carbonaceous clay layers represent the upper part of the Sanying Formation and infer that they are also late Pliocene.…”

“…Near Nanbanbang Village along the southwestern border of the basin, Neogene sediments approximately 300 m thick are developed. They lie unconformably over the Eocene Lijiang Formation, and are overlain by the Pleistocene deposits of detritus, sand, and laterite (Zhu et al, 2016). The Neogene sediments include conglomeratic sandstone, sandstone, siltstone, and claystone, generally in ascending order (Fig.…”

Cenozoic plant diversity of Yunnan: A review

“…Some of the authors have also interpreted the palaeovegetation or palaeoclimate accordingly ( Wu, 2010 , Su, 2010 , Xing, 2010 ). Based on detailed palaeobotanical research, hundreds of fossil species have been published in a variety of international journals (e.g., Zhao et al., 2004 , Xie et al., 2010 , Xing et al., 2010 , Xing et al., 2013 , Su et al., 2011 , Su et al., 2013b , Huang et al., 2012 , Huang et al., 2013 , Wu et al., 2012 , Hu et al., 2014 , Jia et al., 2015 , Li et al., 2015 , Zhu et al., 2015 , Zhu et al., 2016 , Huang et al., 2016a ; Fig. 2 ).…”

Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications

“…Martin and Barkley, 1961;Kirkbride et al, 2006;Bojnanský and Farga sov a, 2007;Cappers and Bekker, 2013), and palaeocarpofloras (e.g. Friis, 1985;Martinetto, 2001a;Czaja, 2003;Zhu et al, 2016). Fossil description followed the work by Friis (1985) and Zhu et al (2016).…”

“…Friis, 1985;Martinetto, 2001a;Czaja, 2003;Zhu et al, 2016). Fossil description followed the work by Friis (1985) and Zhu et al (2016). Systematic taxonomy follows the criteria of Menezes de Sequeira et al (2012).…”