Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/38647
Type: | Journal article |
Title: | The Cenozoic macrofossil record of the Cupressaceae in the Southern Hemisphere |
Author: | Hill, R. |
Citation: | Acta Palaeobotanica, 2001; 41(2):123-132 |
Publisher: | Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Botaniki im. W. Szafera |
Issue Date: | 2001 |
ISSN: | 0001-6594 2082-0259 |
Abstract: | Cupressaceae macrofossils are difficult to identify in older sediments, but the extant southern genera begin their record in the Cretaceous (Athrotaxis) and become more diverse and extensive during the Cenozoic. Several extinct genera of Cupressaceae also occur in Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments, especially in Australasia, and some Cretaceous fossils appear to be more closely related to extant Northern rather than Southern Hemisphere genera. However, information about the history of the dry forest Cupressaceae is extremely limited due to a lack of fossilisation in such environments. The southern Cupressaceae, past and present, demonstrate an ability to compete effectively with angiosperms and have co-existed with them for tens of millions of years. In south-eastern Australia and New Zealand at least, the generic diversity and probably the geographic extent of the Cupressaceae has declined since the Early Oligocene. This decline was probably directly tied to climate change, with the Neogene changes in rainfall (in particular increasing seasonality and aridity) having a marked effect. However, in at least some genera (e.g. the dry-adapted Callitris in Australia) there appears to have been an increase in diversity following continental drying. |
Keywords: | macrofossils Cupressaceae Cretaceous Cenozoic Southern Hemisphere |
Description: | © CSIRO 2005 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 6 Earth and Environmental Sciences publications Environment Institute Leaders publications |
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.