A novel seed cone of Pinus from the Miocene of coastal Southeast China indicates kinship with Southeast Asian pines.

ABSTRACT: Pinus is an economically and ecologically important genus whose members are dominant components globally in low-latitude mountainous and mid-latitude temperate forests. Pinus species richness is currently concentrated in subtropical mid-low latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, differing from the latitudinal diversity gradient mostly recognized in woody angiosperms. How the present pattern was developing in Earth's past is still poorly studied, particularly in eastern Asia. Here, a new fossil species, Pinus shengxianica sp. nov. is described based on a fossil seed cone from the Late Miocene Shengxian Formation in Zhejiang, southeast China. A co-occurring cone is recognized as a known fossil species, Pinus speciosa Li. Extensive comparison of extant and fossil members of Pinus suggests P. s

SUBMITTER: Li XC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10772114 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature