A paleobiogeographical scenario for the Taxaceae based on a revised fossil wood record and embolism resistance
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 2019-04, vol. 263, p. 147-158
Elsevier
English Abstract
Fossil Taxaceae are documented for the Cenozoic throughout most of the northern hemisphere, but the pre-Ce- nozoic history of this group is still poorly known. The fossil wood record is dif␣cult but can shed light on this ...Read more >
Fossil Taxaceae are documented for the Cenozoic throughout most of the northern hemisphere, but the pre-Ce- nozoic history of this group is still poorly known. The fossil wood record is dif␣cult but can shed light on this his- tory. We critically evaluated the fossil woods assigned to Taxaceae and then compared the fossil record of taxaceous woods to the fossil record of taxaceous leaves and reproductive structures. We then considered the fossil record in the context of family's molecular phylogeny. More than half of the fossil woods attributed to Taxaceae lack diagnostic characters of the family (longitudinal tracheids with helical thickenings and abietoid pitting on radial walls). Fossil wood that can be attributed to the fossil genus Taxaceoxylon, as well as some spec- imens placed in the genus Protelicoxylon, which differ only in having mixed type of intertracheary radial pitting, probably belong to Taxaceae. The fossil wood record, as reappraised, is not informative about the history of individual genera within the family, but ␣ts that of leafy remains. Taxaceae wood shows remarkable resistance to em- bolism and subsequent increased risks of conduit implosion that might be prevented by the presence of tertiary helical thickenings. Our ␣ndings suggest a paleobiogeographical scenario for the Taxaceae, that involved a West- ern Europe Early Jurassic cradle and expansion to their Holarctic modern distribution.Read less <
English Keywords
Taxaceoxylon Protelicoxylon Wood anatomy Paleoecology Biogeography Laurasia
Origin
Hal imported