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Issue: Vol. 1 No. 3: September 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-09-26
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.1.3.9
Page range: 288-297
Abstract views: 120
PDF downloaded: 78

First fruit record of Pterocarya (Juglandaceae) from the upper Eocene of the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation & Institute of Sedimentary Geology, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Juglandaceae Pterocarya fossil winged fruit Eocene Tibet

Abstract

The Juglandaceae family experienced significant diversification during the early Tertiary, as evidenced by fossil records showing a broad expansion of both extant and extinct taxa. The genus Pterocarya is characterized by its distinctive fruit with butterfly-shaped wings and a small nutlet. Macrofossil records suggest that this genus was distributed widely in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the fossil record of Pterocarya in China is limited. In this study, we describe a well-preserved Pterocarya fossil winged fruit from the middle-upper member of the Niubao Formation (the upper Eocene) of the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The winged fruit is identified as Pterocarya liae sp. nov. based on detailed morphological comparison, representing the earliest known record of Pterocarya winged fruit in Asia. The new finding extends the paleobiogeographic distribution of Pterocarya during the Eocene and provides new insights into the early stage of the diversification of this genus.

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