A new species of Banksia (Proteaceae) from the Eocene Merlinleigh Sandstone of the Kennedy Range, Western Australia
Titel:
A new species of Banksia (Proteaceae) from the Eocene Merlinleigh Sandstone of the Kennedy Range, Western Australia
Auteur:
McNamara, Kenneth J. Scott, John K.
Verschenen in:
Alcheringa
Paginering:
Jaargang 7 (1983) nr. 3 pagina's 185-193
Jaar:
1983
Inhoud:
A new species of Banksia, B. archaeocarpa, from the Merlinleigh Sandstone, Kennedy Range, Western Australia is described on the basis of fossilised fruiting bodies (infructescences). An additional single, incomplete, sterile inflorescence of Banksia is also described, but not formally named. Marine fauna present in the sandstones along with the plant material has allowed dating of the Merlinleigh Sandstone as Middle or Late Eocene. The presence of Banksia remains in rocks of this age in Western Australia represents the earliest unequivocal occurrence of Banksia in Australia. The infructescences are superficially very similar to some present day Western Australian species of Banksia. This suggests that the genus was morphologically well established by the Late Eocene.
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