Tertiary Araucarian Macrofossils From Tasmania

Abstract

Leaves of three species belonging to the family Araucariaceae are described from two Eocene localities in Tasmania. Araucarioides gen. nov. is proposed to contain the fossil species. The erection of a new genus is necessary for two reasons. Two new species, A. linearis and A. sinuosa, are intermediate between Agathis and Araucaria and do not have the Florin rings which are the characteristic of extant species of Araucariaceae. The third new species, A. annulata, while clearly belonging to the Araucariaceae, is not well enough preserved to be assigned to an extant genus. These species confirm the presence of the subtropical/tropical Araucariaceae in Tasmania in the Eocene. The evolutionary position of the fossil species is uncertain at present.