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Taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of plants
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 21(3)

Agathis (Araucariaceae) macrofossils from Cainozoic sediments in south-eastern Australia

Robert S. Hill A B E , Tom Lewis C , Raymond J. Carpenter A and Sung Soo Whang D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

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

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

C Horticulture and Forestry Science, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Locked Bag 16, Fraser Road, Gympie, Qld 4570, Australia.

D Division of Science Education, Chonbuk National University, 560-576, Republic of Korea.

E Corresponding author. Email: bob.hill@adelaide.edu.au

Australian Systematic Botany 21(3) 162-177 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB08006
Submitted: 24 January 2008  Accepted: 3 July 2008   Published: 20 August 2008

Abstract

Organically preserved Cainozoic leaf fossils previously referred to Agathis are re-examined, and in all cases their affinity with that genus is confirmed. Previously undescribed organically preserved leaf fossils from several Cainozoic sites in south-eastern Australia are compared with Agathis and Wollemia and two new species of Agathis are described. Intraspecific variation in leaf cuticle morphology is examined in extant A. macrophylla in particular, and is found to be much higher than previously recorded. This makes assignment of fossil Agathis leaves to species difficult, especially when only leaf fragments are available. The new fossils extend the record of organically preserved Agathis macro-remains back to the Late Paleocene, but do not significantly extend the known spatial distribution.


Acknowledgements

We thank Ken Hill from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for providing leaf material of Wollemia nobilis and providing leaves of 10 specimens of Agathis macrophylla, Colin Harris, Acting Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, for allowing us to collect leaves from living species of Agathis, and Tom Rich at the Victorian Museum for loaning the holotypes of A. parwanensis and A. yallournensis. This research was funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council.


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