Two new species of Dacrydium (Podocarpaceae) based on vegetative fossils from middle eocene sediments at Nelly Creek, South Australia

Abstract

Two new macrofossil species of Dacrydium (Podocarpaceae), D. fimbriatus (with dimorphic foliage) and D. mucronatus, are described from Middle Eocene sediments at Nelly Creek just south of Lake Eyre South. These species extend the number of Dacrydium macrofossil species from four to six, the macrofossil range from south-eastern to central Australia and the earliest macrofossil record of the genus from the Early Oligocene to Middle Eocene. On the basis of the low numbers and poor development of epiphyllous germlings, these species were probably growing in a region where water availability was reduced compared with Paleogene sites in south-eastern Australia, but the morphology of the foliage does not reflect that.