An Australian origin for the candle nut (Aleurites, Crotonoideae, Euphorbiaceae) and the fossil record of the Euphorbiaceae and related families in Australia and New Zealand

• Published in: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
• Main Authors: Rozefelds, Andrew C., Dettmann, Mary E., Clifford, H. Trevor, Ekins, Merrick
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier BV 2017
• Subjects: Aleurites; Australia; Cenozoic; Euphorbiaceae; Fossil fruits; Pollen; 1105 Ecology; Evolution; Behavior and Systematics; 1911 Palaeontology; McIntyre; New Zealand; Queensland; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctica New Zealand
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:504314/UQ504314_OA.pdf; https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:504314

A fossil seed from south east Queensland referable to the extant genus Aleurites (candlenut) is described as a new species, A. australis, and is one of the few macrofossil records of Euphorbiaceae from Australia. The new fossil data and phylogenetic studies of the biogeographical relationships of Aleurites based upon analysis of rbcL and trnL-F sequence data support a Gondwanic origin for the clade. The macrofossil record of Euphorbiaceae in Australia is restricted to seeds of Aleurites; and fruits of Fontainocarpa which are thought to have affinities with Fontainea, and both extant genera are referable to the Crotonoideae. One group of crotonoids has inaperturate spheroidal pollen, that is comparable to the dispersed pollen genus, Crotonipollis, which has an Oligocene to Recent range in Australia. The fossil pollen record in Australia and New Zealand of other Euphorbiaceae and related families includes species of Malvacipollis that have affinities to the Picrodendraceae; Nyssapollenites endobalteus (McIntyre) Kemp and Harris has affinities with the subfamily Acalyphoideae (Euphorbiaceae); and putative records of Homalanthus suggest affinities with the subfamily Euphorbioideae (Euphorbiaceae). Fossil fruits of Glochidion provide possible evidence of the Phyllanthaceae. The stratigraphic range of these taxa in respect to the Weddellian Biostratigraphic Province, which includes southern South America, western Antarctica, New Zealand, and eastern Australia is also briefly reviewed.