Leaf fossils show a 40-million-year history for the Australian tropical rainforest genus Megahertzia (Proteaceae)
Raymond J. Carpenter
A * and Andrew C. Rozefelds B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Collection and Research Centre, Queensland Museum, Hendra, Qld 4011, Australia.
C School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Qld 4702, Australia.
Australian Systematic Botany 36(4) 312-321 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB23005
Submitted: 28 February 2023 Accepted: 21 July 2023 Published: 18 August 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Well-preserved leaf fossils from the Middle Eocene Anglesea site in Victoria are assigned to a new species of Megahertzia (M. paleoamplexicaulis R.J.Carp. & Rozefelds), a genus of Proteaceae now represented by a single species, M. amplexicaulis A.S.George & B.Hyland, in the Wet Tropics rainforests of Queensland. Megahertzia-like cuticular remains also occur in the Eocene Mount Hotham assemblage of Victoria, and pollen closely conforming to Megahertzia (i.e. Proteacidites latrobensis W.K.Harris) occurs widely in Cenozoic sediments of Australia and in New Zealand. All these records add to other fossil evidence that many species of Australian rainforest Proteaceae are the last vestiges of formerly much more widespread lineages. The fossil leaves are near-identical in architecture and cuticular features to lobed leaves of M. amplexicaulis, including that they have small teeth, stomata in well-defined areoles, and fine cuticular striations. Moreover, where preserved, the leaf fossils show amplexicaul bases, a unique (apomorphic) trait of the extant species. The apparent absence at Anglesea of simple (unlobed) leaves in Megahertzia and two other taxa of fossil Proteaceae is discussed; this leaf type could have evolved convergently in response to forest canopy heat increase as Australia drifted towards the Equator.
Keywords: Australian flora, climate change, continental drift, Eocene, fossil pollen, leaf cuticle, lobed leaf, relictual lineage, Wet Tropics, World Heritage Area.
References
Alley NF, Krieg GW, Callen RA (1996) Early Tertiary Eyre Formation, lower Nelly Creek, southern Lake Eyre Basin, Australia: palynological dating of macrofloras and silcrete, and palaeoclimatic interpretations. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 43, 71–84.| Early Tertiary Eyre Formation, lower Nelly Creek, southern Lake Eyre Basin, Australia: palynological dating of macrofloras and silcrete, and palaeoclimatic interpretations.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Barker RM, Haegi L, Barker WR (1999) Hakea. Flora of Australia 17B, 31–170.
Basinger JF, Christophel DC (1985) Fossil flowers and leaves of the Ebenaceae from the Eocene of southern Australia. Canadian Journal of Botany 63, 1825–1843.
| Fossil flowers and leaves of the Ebenaceae from the Eocene of southern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Beeston JW (1994) Tertiary palynology in the Mount Coolon and Riverside areas. Queensland Geology 6, 127–179.
Blackburn DT (1981) Tertiary megafossil flora of Maslin Bay, South Australia: numerical taxonomic study of selected leaves. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 5, 9–28.
| Tertiary megafossil flora of Maslin Bay, South Australia: numerical taxonomic study of selected leaves.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Byrne M, Steane DA, Joseph L, Yeates DK, Jordan GJ, Crayn D, Aplin K, Cantrill DJ, Cook LG, Crisp MD, Keogh JS, Melville J, Moritz C, Porch N, Sniderman JMK, Sunnucks P, Weston PH (2011) Decline of a biome: evolution, contraction, fragmentation, extinction and invasion of the Australian mesic zone biota. Journal of Biogeography 38, 1635–1656.
| Decline of a biome: evolution, contraction, fragmentation, extinction and invasion of the Australian mesic zone biota.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cardillo M, Weston PH, Reynolds ZKM, Olde PM, Mast AR, Lemmon EM, Lemmon AR, Bromham L (2017) The phylogeny and biogeography of Hakea (Proteaceae) reveals the role of biome shifts in a continental plant radiation. Evolution 71, 1928–1943.
| The phylogeny and biogeography of Hakea (Proteaceae) reveals the role of biome shifts in a continental plant radiation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ (1994) Cuticular morphology and aspects of the ecology and fossil history of North Queensland rainforest Proteaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 116, 249–303.
| Cuticular morphology and aspects of the ecology and fossil history of North Queensland rainforest Proteaceae.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ (2012) Proteaceae leaf fossils: phylogeny, diversity, ecology and austral distributions. The Botanical Review 78, 261–287.
| Proteaceae leaf fossils: phylogeny, diversity, ecology and austral distributions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ, Jordan GJ (1997) Early Tertiary macrofossils of Proteaceae from Tasmania. Australian Systematic Botany 10, 533–563.
| Early Tertiary macrofossils of Proteaceae from Tasmania.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ, Hill RS, Greenwood DR, Partridge AD, Banks MA (2004) No snow in the mountains: Early Eocene plant fossils from Hotham Heights, Victoria, Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 52, 685–718.
| No snow in the mountains: Early Eocene plant fossils from Hotham Heights, Victoria, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ, Hill RS, Jordan GJ (2005) Leaf cuticular morphology links Platanaceae and Proteaceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences 166, 843–855.
| Leaf cuticular morphology links Platanaceae and Proteaceae.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Carpenter RJ, Jordan GJ, Hill RS (2016) Fossil leaves of Banksia, Banksieae and pretenders: resolving the fossil genus Banksieaephyllum. Australian Systematic Botany 29, 126–141.
| Fossil leaves of Banksia, Banksieae and pretenders: resolving the fossil genus Banksieaephyllum.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Christophel DC (1980) Occurrence of Casuarina megafossils in the Tertiary of south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 28, 249–259.
| Occurrence of Casuarina megafossils in the Tertiary of south-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Christophel DC (1984) Early Tertiary Proteaceae: the first floral evidence for the Musgraveinae. Australian Journal of Botany 32, 177–186.
| Early Tertiary Proteaceae: the first floral evidence for the Musgraveinae.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Christophel DC (1994) The early Tertiary macrofloras of continental Australia. In ‘History of the Australian vegetation: Cretaceous to Recent’. (Ed. RS Hill) pp. 262–275. (Cambridge University Press)
Christophel DC, Greenwood DR (1988) A comparison of Australian tropical rainforest and Tertiary fossil leaf-beds. In ‘The Ecology of Australia’s Wet Tropics. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia. Vol. 15’. (Ed. R Kitching) pp. 139–148. (Surrey Beatty: Sydney, NSW, Australia)
Christophel DC, Lys SD (1986) Mummified leaves of two new species of Myrtaceae from the Eocene of Victoria, Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 34, 649–662.
| Mummified leaves of two new species of Myrtaceae from the Eocene of Victoria, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Christophel DC, Harris WK, Syber AK (1987) The Eocene flora of the Anglesea locality, Victoria. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 11, 303–323.
| The Eocene flora of the Anglesea locality, Victoria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Conran JG, Christophel DC (1999) A redescription of the Australian Eocene fossil monocotyledon Petermanniopsis (Lilianae: aff. Petermanniaceae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 123, 61–67.
Conran JG, Christophel DC, Scriven L (1994) Petermanniopsis angleseaënsis Gen. & Sp. Nov.: an Australian fossil net-veined monocotyledon from Eocene Victoria. International Journal of Plant Sciences 155, 816–827.
| Petermanniopsis angleseaënsis Gen. & Sp. Nov.: an Australian fossil net-veined monocotyledon from Eocene Victoria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Douglas AW, Hyland BPM (1995) Eidothea. Flora of Australia 16, 127–129.
Dunn RE, Strömberg CAE, Madden RH, Kohn MJ, Carlini AA (2015) Linked canopy, climate, and faunal change in the Cenozoic of Patagonia. Science 347, 258–261.
| Linked canopy, climate, and faunal change in the Cenozoic of Patagonia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Foster CB (1982) Illustrations of early Tertiary (Eocene) plant microfossils from the Yaamba Basin, Queensland. Geological Survey of Queensland 381, 1–33.
Frenguelli J (1943) Proteáceas del Cenozoico de Patagonia. [Proteaceae from the Cenozoic of Patagonia.] Notas del Museo de La Plata 8, 201–213. [In Spanish]
George AS, Hyland BPM (1995) Megahertzia. Flora of Australia 16, 355
Givnish TJ (1979) On the adaptive significance of leaf form. In ‘Topics in Plant Population Biology’. (Eds OT Solbrig, J Subodh, GB Johnson, PH Raven) pp. 375–407. (Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA)
Gonzalez CC, Gandolfo MA, Zamaloa MC, Cúneo NR, Wilf P, Johnson KR (2007) Revision of the Proteaceae macrofossil record from Patagonia, Argentina. The Botanical Review 73, 235–266.
| Revision of the Proteaceae macrofossil record from Patagonia, Argentina.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Greenwood DR (1987) Early Tertiary Podocarpaceae: megafossils from the Eocene Anglesea locality, Victoria, Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 35, 111–133.
| Early Tertiary Podocarpaceae: megafossils from the Eocene Anglesea locality, Victoria, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Greenwood DR, Christophel DC (2005) The origins and Tertiary history of Australian ‘tropical’ rainforests. In ‘Tropical rainforests: past, present, and future’. (Eds C Bermingham, C Dick, C Moritz) pp. 336–373. (Chicago University Press: Chicago, IL, USA)
Greenwood DR, Conran JG (2000) The Australian Cretaceous and Tertiary monocot fossil record. In ‘Monocots: Systematics and Evolution’. (Eds KL Wilson, DA Morrison) pp. 52–59. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Harris WK (1965) Basal Tertiary microfloras from the Princetown area, Victoria, Australia. Palaeontographica B 115, 75–106.
Harris WK (1966) News and notes. Taxon 15, 332–336.
| News and notes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS (1978) Two new species of Bowenia Hook. ex Hook. f. from the Eocene of eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 26, 837–846.
| Two new species of Bowenia Hook. ex Hook. f. from the Eocene of eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS (1980) Three new Eocene cycads from eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 28, 105–122.
| Three new Eocene cycads from eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Carpenter RJ (1991) Evolution of Acmopyle and Dacrycarpus (Podocarpaceae) foliage as inferred from macrofossils in south-eastern Australia. Australian Systematic Botany 4, 449–479.
| Evolution of Acmopyle and Dacrycarpus (Podocarpaceae) foliage as inferred from macrofossils in south-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Christophel DC (1988) Tertiary leaves of the tribe Banksieae (Proteaceae) from south-eastern Australia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 97, 205–227.
| Tertiary leaves of the tribe Banksieae (Proteaceae) from south-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Macphail MK (1983) Reconstruction of the Oligocene vegetation at Pioneer, northeast Tasmania. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 7, 281–299.
| Reconstruction of the Oligocene vegetation at Pioneer, northeast Tasmania.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Pole MS (1992) Leaf and shoot morphology of extant Afrocarpus, Nageia and Retrophyllum (Podocarpaceae) species, and species with similar leaf arrangement from Tertiary sediments in Australasia. Australian Systematic Botany 5, 337–358.
| Leaf and shoot morphology of extant Afrocarpus, Nageia and Retrophyllum (Podocarpaceae) species, and species with similar leaf arrangement from Tertiary sediments in Australasia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Scriven LJ (1998) Falcatifolium (Podocarpaceae) macrofossils from Paleogene sediments in south-eastern Australia: a reassessment. Australian Systematic Botany 12, 711–720.
| Falcatifolium (Podocarpaceae) macrofossils from Paleogene sediments in south-eastern Australia: a reassessment.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hill RS, Hill KE, Carpenter RJ, Jordan GJ (2019) New macrofossils of the Australian cycad Bowenia and their significance in reconstructing the past morphological range of the genus. International Journal of Plant Sciences 180, 128–140.
| New macrofossils of the Australian cycad Bowenia and their significance in reconstructing the past morphological range of the genus.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Holdgate GR, Smith TAG, Gallagher SJ, Wallace MW (2001) Geology of coal-bearing Palaeogene sediments, onshore Torquay Basin, Victoria. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 48, 657–679.
| Geology of coal-bearing Palaeogene sediments, onshore Torquay Basin, Victoria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hyland BPM (1982) ‘A revised card key to rainforest trees of north Queensland.’ (CSIRO: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Hyland BPM (1999a) Musgravea. Flora of Australia 17b, 170–172.
Hyland BPM (1999b) Austromuellera. Flora of Australia 17b, 173–175.
Itzstein-Davey F (2004) A spatial and temporal Eocene palaeoenvironmental study, focusing on the Proteaceae family, from Kambalda, Western Australia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 131, 159–180.
| A spatial and temporal Eocene palaeoenvironmental study, focusing on the Proteaceae family, from Kambalda, Western Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Johnson LAS, Briggs BG (1975) On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 70, 83–182.
| On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kürschner WM (1997) The anatomical diversity of recent and fossil leaves of the durmast oak (Quercus petraea Lieblein/Q. pseudocastanea Goeppert): implications for their use as biosensors of palaeoatmospheric CO2 levels. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 96, 1–30.
| The anatomical diversity of recent and fossil leaves of the durmast oak (Quercus petraea Lieblein/Q. pseudocastanea Goeppert): implications for their use as biosensors of palaeoatmospheric CO2 levels.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leigh A, Sevanto S, Close JD, Nicotra AB (2017) The influence of leaf size and shape on leaf thermal dynamics: does theory hold up under natural conditions? Plant, Cell & Environment 40, 237–248.
| The influence of leaf size and shape on leaf thermal dynamics: does theory hold up under natural conditions?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Macphail MK (1999) Palynostratigraphy of the Murray Basin, inland southeastern Australia. Palynology 23, 197–240.
| Palynostratigraphy of the Murray Basin, inland southeastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Macphail MK, Stone MS (2004) Age and palaeoenvironmental constraints on the genesis of the Yandi channel iron deposits, Marillana Formation, Pilbara, northwestern Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 51, 497–520.
| Age and palaeoenvironmental constraints on the genesis of the Yandi channel iron deposits, Marillana Formation, Pilbara, northwestern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Makinson RO (2000) Grevillea. Flora of Australia 17A, 1–460.
Mast AR, Willis CL, Jones EH, Downs KM, Weston PH (2008) A smaller Macadamia from a more vagile tribe: inference of phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and diaspore evolution in Macadamia and relatives (tribe Macadamieae; Proteaceae). American Journal of Botany 95, 843–870.
| A smaller Macadamia from a more vagile tribe: inference of phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and diaspore evolution in Macadamia and relatives (tribe Macadamieae; Proteaceae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McGowran B, Holdgate GR, Li Q, Gallagher SJ (2004) Cenozoic stratigraphic succession in southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 51, 459–496.
| Cenozoic stratigraphic succession in southeastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nott JF, Owen JAK (1992) An Oligocene palynoflora from the middle Shoalhaven catchment N.S.W. and the Tertiary evolution of flora and climate in the southeast Australian highlands. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 95, 135–151.
| An Oligocene palynoflora from the middle Shoalhaven catchment N.S.W. and the Tertiary evolution of flora and climate in the southeast Australian highlands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
O’Dowd DJ, Brew CR, Christophel DC, Norton RA (1991) Mite-plant associations from the Eocene of southern Australia. Science 252, 99–101.
| Mite-plant associations from the Eocene of southern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Olde PM (2017) A checklist of fossil names in extant genera of the Proteaceae. Telopea 20, 289–324.
| A checklist of fossil names in extant genera of the Proteaceae.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Onstein RE, Jordan GJ, Sauquet H, Weston PH, Bouchenak-Khelladi Y, Carpenter RJ, Linder HP (2016) Evolutionary radiations of Proteaceae are triggered by the interaction between traits and climates in open habitats. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25, 1239–1251.
| Evolutionary radiations of Proteaceae are triggered by the interaction between traits and climates in open habitats.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Partridge AD (2006) Late Cretaceous palynological zonations for Australia. In ‘Australian Mesozoic and Cenozoic palynology zonations – updated to 2004 geologic time scale’. (Ed. E Monteil) Geoscience Record 2006/23, Chart 3 of 4. (Commonwealth of Australia)
Pole M (1994) An Eocene macroflora from the Taratu Formation at Livingstone, North Otago, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Botany 42, 341–367.
| An Eocene macroflora from the Taratu Formation at Livingstone, North Otago, New Zealand.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Raine JI, Mildenhall DC, Kennedy EM (2011) New Zealand fossil spores and pollen: an illustrated catalogue, 4th edn. Miscellaneous series number 4. (GNS Science). Available at http://pal.gns.cri.nz/catalog [Verified January 2023]
Rowett AI, Christophel DC (1990) The dispersed cuticle profile of the Eocene Anglesea clay lenses. In ‘Proceedings, 3rd IOP Conference’, 1988. (Eds JG Douglas, DC Christophel) pp. 115–121. (A-Z Press: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Rozefelds AC (1992) The subtribe Hicksbeachiinae (Proteaceae) in the Australian Tertiary. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 32, 195–202.
Rozefelds AC (1995) Miocene Wilkinsonia fruits (Hicksbeachiinae, Proteaceae) from the base of the Yallourn Formation, Latrobe Valley, Victoria. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 129, 59–62.
| Miocene Wilkinsonia fruits (Hicksbeachiinae, Proteaceae) from the base of the Yallourn Formation, Latrobe Valley, Victoria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rozefelds AC, Christophel DC, Alley NF (1992) Tertiary occurrence of the fern Lygodium (Schizaeaceae) in Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 32, 303–322.
Rozefelds AC, Dettmann ME, Clifford HT (2005) Xylocaryon lockii F.Muell. (Proteaceae) fruits from the Cenozoic of south eastern Australia. Kanunnah 1, 91–102.
Rozefelds AC, Dettmann ME, Clifford HT, Carpenter RJ (2017) Lygodium (Schizaeaceae) in southern high latitudes during the Cenozoic. A new species and new insights into character evolution in the genus. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 247, 40–52.
| Lygodium (Schizaeaceae) in southern high latitudes during the Cenozoic. A new species and new insights into character evolution in the genus.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sauquet H, Weston PH, Anderson CL, Barker NP, Cantrill DJ, Mast AR, Savolainen V (2009) Contrasted patterns of hyperdiversification in Mediterranean hotspots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, 221–225.
| Contrasted patterns of hyperdiversification in Mediterranean hotspots.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stover LE, Partridge AD (1973) Tertiary and Late Cretaceous spores and pollen from the Gippsland Basin, southeastern Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 85, 237–286.
Stover LE, Partridge AD (1982) Eocene spore-pollen from the Werillup Formation, Western Australia. Palynology 6, 69–96.
| Eocene spore-pollen from the Werillup Formation, Western Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Truswell EM, Marchant NG (1986) Early Tertiary pollen of probable Droseracean affinity from Central Australia. Special Papers in Palaeontology 35, 163–178.
Watson RW (1942) The effect of cuticular hardening on the form of epidermal cells. New Phytologist 41, 223–229.
| The effect of cuticular hardening on the form of epidermal cells.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Weston PH (1995) Athertonia. Flora of Australia 16, 413–415.
Weston PH (2014) What has molecular systematics contributed to our knowledge of the plant family Proteaceae? In ‘Molecular plant taxonomy: methods and protocols. Vol. 1115’. (Ed. P Besse) Methods in Molecular Biology, pp. 365–397. (Springer: New York, NY, USA)
Weston P, Barker N (2006) A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera. Telopea 11, 314–344.
| A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wood GR (1986) Late Oligocene to early Miocene palynomorphs from GSQ Sandy Cape 1-3R. Geological Survey of Queensland Publication 387, 1–28.
