Palaeobiogeographical implications of the first fossil wood flora from the Jurassic of Turkey

Abstract

We describe Jurassic fossilized woods from the Gümüşhane and Erzurum regions of Turkey that represent the eastern Sakarya Zone (eSZ) terrestrial biota. We collected 27 fossil wood fragments in total. All 27 fossil wood specimens represent coniferous trees. We assigned ten specimens to Agathoxylon sp. type 1, fourteen to Agathoxylon sp. type 2, two to Protelicoxylon asiaticum and one to Xenoxylon hopeiense. Middle Jurassic woods are represented by Agathoxylon only what does not allow for any palaeobiogeographic inferences. The Late Jurassic wood flora evidences a continuity of Gondwanan eSZ terrestrial areas with the Laurasian ones. The occurrence of Xenoxylon within this Late Jurassic wood flora suggests an abundant water supply under a relatively cool/humid climate. Overall, both floras show important similarities to contemporary fossil wood flora from Iran and, to a lesser extent, to those from Georgia.

Latitude or altitude as the future refugium? A case for the future of forests in Asia Minor and its surroundings

“…Biodiversity ecology, Biogeography, Botany, Community ecology, Conservation ecology, Ecosystem ecology, Landscape ecology, Macroecology, Population ecology, Spatial ecology 24-50° E and latitudes 33-46° N. The mountainous terrain of the peninsula rests on a high plateau crisscrossed by several active fault lines underneath, with the mountain ranges that line up its southern and northern coastlines acting as reminders of a long history of tectonism and contributing to the complex topography of the peninsula (Akkemik et al, 2022;Harzhauser et al, 2007;Kuzucuoğlu et al, 2019). The main mountain ranges join neighboring systems such as the Caucasus Mountains in the northeast and the Zagros Mountains in the southeast.…”