Title: Early tertiary Lomatia (Proteaceae) macrofossils from Tasmania, Australia
Abstract: A new species in the Proteaceae, Lomatia xeromorpha is described from the Late Eocene-Oligocene Cethana deposit in Tasmania, Australia. The leaf fossil is very similar to the extant Tasmanian endemic L. tinctoria, which is a characteristic dry sclerophyll plant. The fossil exhibits typical xeromorphic features, including reduced leaf form and thick cuticle, although the climate at Cethana was cool and wet. This lends support to the hypothesis of Beadle (1966) that xeromorphic characters in the Australian sclerophyll flora evolved in response to edaphic and not climatic factors. Another species in the deposit may also have affinities with Lomatia, although the lack of cuticular preservation makes this determination uncertain.
Publication Year: 1988
Publication Date: 1988-08-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 23
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