First Evidence for Wollemi Pine-type Pollen (Dilwynites: Araucariaceae) in South America

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Mcphail, Mike, Carpenter, Raymond, Iglesias, Ari, Wilf, Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library Science
• Subjects: DILWYNITES; ARAUCARIACEAE; PATAGONIA; WOLLEMIA; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5; Antarctic; The Antarctic; East Antarctica; Patagonia; Pacific; New Zealand; Argentina; Ari; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/504

We report the first fossil pollen from South America of the lineage that includes the recently discovered, extremely rare Australian Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). The grains are from the late Paleocene to early middle Eocene Ligorio Ma´rquez Formation of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina, and are assigned to Dilwynites, the fossil pollen type that closely resembles the pollen of modern Wollemia and some species of its Australasian sister genus, Agathis. Dilwynites was formerly known only from Australia, New Zealand, and East Antarctica. The Patagonian Dilwynites occurs with several taxa of Podocarpaceae and a diverse range of cryptogams and angiosperms, but not Nothofagus. The fossils greatly extend the known geographic range of Dilwynites and provide important new evidence for the Antarctic region as an early Paleogenem portal for biotic interchange between Australasia and South America. Fil: Mcphail, Mike. Department of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; Fil: Carpenter, Raymond. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Fil: Iglesias, Ari. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.naturales y Museo. Area Paleobotanica; Fil: Wilf, Peter. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America;