Leaf fossils of (Arecaceae) from the Oligocene of northern Vietnam and their paleoclimatic implications.
Ai Song, Jia Liu, Shui-Qing Liang, Truong Van Do, Hung Ba Nguyen, Wei-Yu-Dong Deng, Lin-Bo Jia, Cédric Del Rio, Gaurav Srivastava, Zhuo Feng, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Tao Su
Author Information
Ai Song: Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China.
Jia Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Shui-Qing Liang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Truong Van Do: Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Hung Ba Nguyen: Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Wei-Yu-Dong Deng: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Lin-Bo Jia: CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650204, China.
Cédric Del Rio: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Gaurav Srivastava: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, 226 007, India.
Zhuo Feng: Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China.
Zhe-Kun Zhou: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Jian Huang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Tao Su: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China.
Recent paleobotanical investigations in Vietnam provide a good opportunity to improve our understanding of the biodiversity and paleoclimatic conditions in the geological past of Southeast Asia. Palms (Arecaceae) are a diverse family of typical thermophilous plants with a relatively low tolerance for freezing. In this study, we describe well-preserved fossil palm leaves from the Oligocene Dong Ho Formation of Hoanh Bo Basin, northern Vietnam. Characters of the fossil leaves, such as a fan-shaped costapalmate lamina, an unarmed petiole, a costa slightly enlarged at the base that then tapers distally into the blade, and well-preserved amphistomatic leaves with cuticles, suggest that they represent a new fossil species, which we herein designate A. Song, T. Su, T. V. Do et Z.K. Zhou sp. nov. Together with other paleontological and palaeoclimatic evidence, we conclude that a warm climate prevailed in northern Vietnam and nearby areas during the Oligocene.
