Flora, vegetation and climate assessment of the Early/Middle Miocene Parschlug flora indicates a distinctly seasonal climate

Abstract

The late Early/early Middle Miocene flora from Parschlug (Styria, Austria) is famous for its numerous specimens and high diversity. Some taxa previously described are revised here and 42 new angiosperm leaf morphotypes/taxa are described. The Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) is applied to assess the palaeoclimate. An update of the tool to assess the most suitable modern climate CLAMP calibration dataset is introduced. The Integrated Plant Record (IPR) vegetation analysis, assessing the most likely major vegetation type represented by a fossil flora, and similarity approaches Drudges 1 and 2, indicating the most similar modern vegetation proxies, had been previously applied to data from Parschlug. Both are again applied here on the enlarged floristic spectrum. The results indicate “sclerophyllous subhumid forest” as the most likely major zonal vegetation type for Parschlug and European vegetation, namely “Thermophilous mixed deciduous broadleaved forests”, distributed today in southern and southeastern Europe, as the most similar modern vegetation. The climate for Parschlug, inferred from CLAMP and the climate in the region of the modern vegetation proxies, indicates distinct seasonality in precipitation and temperature.

First reliable Miocene fossil winged fruits record of Engelhardia in Asia through anatomical investigation

“…3 , 22 , 30 In addition, it should be noted that some engelhardioid winged fruit fossils have still been assigned to Engelhardia , for example, E. macroptera (Brongniart) Unger discovered in the Cenozoic of Europe. 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 However, the descriptions of these fossils are similar to those provided by Jähnichen et al. 57 and Manchester, 3 and no additional information on nutlet anatomy is currently available.…”

“… 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 Despite this, some engelhardioid winged fruit fossils have still been assigned to Engelhardia , for example, Engelhardia macroptera (Brongniart) Unger discovered in the Cenozoic of Europe. 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 However, it is more appropriate to attribute these fossils to Palaeocarya rather than Engelhardia , because these fossils do not possess further characteristics beyond the revision by Manchester. 3…”

Organic geochemistry and petrography of Miocene ombrotrophic coals in the tropical Asem-Asem Basin (Kalimantan, Indonesia): Comparison to coeval subtropical coals in the Eastern Alps

“…A warm, subtropical climate prevailed in the Eastern Alps during the (early) middle Miocene (e.g., Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2008). A rich flora has been described from the Leoben Basin (e.g., Ettingshausen, 1888) and the nearby Parschlug Basin (Kovar-Eder et al, 2022; see Fig. 12 for location).…”

“…12 for location). The Parschlug flora indicates a subtropical climate with pronounced seasonality (Csa, Csb according to Peel et al, 2007;Kovar-Eder et al, 2022). In contrast, a humid subtropical warm-temperate climate without distinct seasonality is indicated for the Leoben area (Cfa according to Peel et al, 2007;Kovar-Eder, pers.…”