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New material of Palaeocarya from the Oligocene of Ningming, Guangxi, South China

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Abstract

Three species of Palaeocarya were found from the Oligocene Ningming Formation of Guangxi, South China. Two species have been identified, Palaeocarya guangxiensis and Palaeocarya ningmingensis, and a new species is described, Palaeocarya longipedicelata J.L. Dong et B.N. Sun sp. nov. The new species is diagnosed primarily by a distinct long pedicel of 8.0–10.0 mm in length, lobe base tri-veined, upper pinnate venation with retuse apex, small prophyllum, and nutlet without hair. The epidermal cells show obscure polygons with undulated cell walls from the tri-lobed bract and show clear polygons with straight cell walls from the pedicel. The peltate scales and circular peltate trichomes are also observed. The occurrence of these winged fruit fossils from the Oligocene suggests that Palaeocarya began to diversify no later than the Oligocene in Guangxi, South China. From the correlation between present fossils with previously published fossils from the Oligocene Jilin, Northeast China, it can be inferred that Palaeocarya had a wide distribution during the Oligocene in China, ranging from the south to the northeast. Based on the analysis of the ecological requirements of the extant relative species, Engelhardia, Alfaropsis and accompanying plant and fungi fossils, we can infer that the palaeoclimate of the Ningming region should be considered a warm and humid tropical–subtropical climate. Finally, we speculate that the Ningming Basin during the Oligocene was close to the low-latitude mountains.

Kurzfassung

Drei Arten von Palaeocarya wurden in der oligozänen Ningming-Formation in Guangxi (S-China) gefunden. Zwei Arten wurden identifiziert, Palaeocarya guangxiensis und Palaeocarya ningmingensis, wie auch eine neue Art (Palaeocarya longipedicelata J.L. Dong et B.N. Sun sp. nov.) beschrieben wird. Die neue Art wurde primär anhand des langen, ausgeprägten Pedicellus mit einer Länge von 8.0–10.0 mm, der dreiaderigen Basis der Loben, der oben gefiederten Aderung mit gestutztem Apex, dem kleinem Vorblatt und der kleinen, haarfreien Nuss festgelegt. Die Epidermalzellen weisen ein undeutliches Polygon mit undulierenden Zellwänden des dreiaderigen Deckblatts und deutliche Polygone mit geraden Zellwänden des Pedicellus auf. Peltate Schuppen und runde, peltate Trichome wurden ebenfalls festgestellt. Dieses Fossilvorkommen geflügelter Früchte aus dem Oligozän belegt den Beginn der Diversifizierung von Palaeocarya spätestens im Oligozän des südchinesischen Guangxi. Ein Vergleich zwischen den vorliegenden Fossilien mit früher publizierten Funden aus dem Oligozän von Jilin (NE-China) ermöglicht den Rückschluss, dass Palaeocarya eine weite Verbreitung während des Oligozäns in China aufwies, vom Süden bis zum Nordosten. Aus der ökologischen Analyse heutiger verwandter Arten wie Engelhardia und Alfaropsis nebst begleitenden Pflanzen- und Pilzfossilien können wir schließen, dass das Paläoklima der Ningming-Region ein warmes, humides, tropisch–subtropisches Klima war. Wir vermuten, dass das Ningming-Becken während des Oligozäns an äquatornahe Berge grenzte.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. San-Ping Xie (Lanzhou University, China) for providing important literature and valuable suggestions. We also thank South China Botanical Garden for the permission to collect extant specimens, Jun-Lin Chen and Rui-Yun Li (Lanzhou University, China) for the help in drawing and writing. This work was conducted under the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41172022), Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20120211110022), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2012CB822003), and Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. lzujbky-2015-201).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources in Western China (Gansu Province), School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jun-Ling Dong, Wen-Jia Wang, Peng Deng, Jin Wang, Fu-Jun Ma, Qiu-Jun Wang, Yi Yang & Bai-Nian Sun

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  1. Jun-Ling Dong
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Dong, JL., Wang, WJ., Deng, P. et al. New material of Palaeocarya from the Oligocene of Ningming, Guangxi, South China. PalZ 90, 399–412 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-016-0302-z

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