Tertiary megafossil floras of Australia as indicators of floristic associations and palaeoclimate

Using phylogenetic diversity to identify ancient rain forest refugia and diversification zones in a biodiversity hotspot

“…From the largest of these refugia in north-east Queensland's uplands, a prevalence of Nothofagus and Podocarpaceae in the fossil record up until the early Pliocene suggests a cooler, more temperate climate than today for much of the Miocene (Kershaw, 1988). The extant lowland flora of the region has also been considered the closest analogue to numerous macrofossil sites of south-eastern Australia (Christophel, 1981(Christophel, , 1994, thus the extant flora maintains a diverse assemblage of vegetation types, many of which bear much similarity to fossil floras of different eras during Australia's history (Kershaw et al, 2005). Both upland sites rich in cooler temperate affinities and lowland sites in the bioregion have been inferred as long-term refugia (Webb & Tracey, 1981;Hilbert et al, 2007).…”

Reconstruction of the Oligocene vegetation at Pioneer, northeast Tasmania

“…Since it is probable that the proteaceous fruits also belong to the tribe Banksieae, there is apparently no taxonomic correlation between the proteaceous macroand microfossils. The outstanding lack of correlation between macro-and microfossils at Pioneer abundant (Christophel & Blackburn, 1978;Christophel, 1981;Hill, 1982). Although it is possible that macrofossils belonging to the subsection bipartitae might have been overlooked in some of these studies due to lack of appreciation of the variation in their venation patterns, careful study of their distinctive cuticular pattern makes it certain that they have not yet been recovered from Pioneer.…”

“…Moreover, taxa which are not recorded as microfossils, either through low production, 0311/5518/83/020281-19 $3.00©AAP poor dispersal or poor preservation, may be present as macrofossils. Tertiary macrofloras in Australia are known to be diverse (Christophel, 1981;Hill, 1982), but they have been little studied.…”

Nothofagusmacrofossils from the Tertiary of Tasmania

“…Undoubtedly the genus was present over large areas, but it has not been recovered as macrofossils from any of four thoroughly studied Tertiary macrofloras in southeastern Australia: Maslin Bay (Christophel & Blackburn, 1978); Anglesea (Christophel, 1981); Nerriga (Hill, 1982); and Yallourn (Duigan, 1966;Blackburn, 1981). The discovery of two species of Nothofagus from Tertiary deposits in Tasmania therefore represents the first objective evidence of preQuaternary macrofossils of this genus in southeastern Australia.…”