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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 54(8)

Plant macrofossil evidence for the environment associated with the Riversleigh fauna

Greg R. Guerin A C and Robert S. Hill A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: greg.guerin@adelaide.edu.au

Australian Journal of Botany 54(8) 717-731 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT04220
Submitted: 20 December 2004  Accepted: 22 June 2006   Published: 29 November 2006

Abstract

Fossil plant organs from probable Oligocene nodules at the Dunsinane Site at Riversleigh, Queensland, were studied. The deposit consists of a low diversity assemblage of reproductive and vegetative organs dominated by a single taxon of Casuarinaceae. The species of Casuarinaceae has affinities with Casuarina and Allocasuarina in having more four teeth per whorl on the photosynthetic branchlets and stomata hidden in deep furrows filled with trichomes, and as such represents the earliest known record of sub-family Cryptostomae. The species is described as Cryptostomiforma quinata gen. et sp. nov. A leaf species is assigned to Alectryon (Sapindaceae) on the basis of the anatomy of abaxial cuticular features. In particular, the morphology is indistinguishable from extant A. affinis, a species currently endemic to New Guinea. Organs with possible affinities to Rubus or Capparis were examined. The assemblage is interpreted as a possible vegetation mosaic, containing both deciduous vine thickets and sclerophyllous habitats. No evidence for the presence of rainforest was found and the fossils are not consistent with extensive lowland tropical rainforest.


Acknowledgments

We thank Mike Archer, Rick Arena, Jo Shrapnel, Yvonne Menadue, David Christophel, Leonie Scriven, Richard Barnes, John Conran, staff of Adelaide Microscopy, staff of the Plant Biodiversity Centre (SA State Herbarium), David Symon and The Australian National Herbarium, Canberra. The Australian Research Council provided funding for the project.


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