Miocene Tropical Forests in South China Shaped by Combined Asian Monsoons.

ABSTRACT: The Miocene epoch witnessed the emergence of modern biomes and biodiversity hotspots. Understanding its history in South China is crucial for informing conservation under modern climate change, yet quantitative constraints on the evolution of climate and vegetation from the tropical-subtropical transition zone remain scarce. Here, we present the first quantitative Miocene paleoclimatic and paleoecological reconstructions based on an integrated analysis of leaf-based proxies applied to exceptionally preserved and highly diverse dicotyledonous leaf megafossils from the Erzitang Formation, Guiping Basin, Guangxi. Results indicate a mean annual temperature of 22.3 °C and mean annual precipitation of 1991 mm, with a monsoon intensity index higher than present, indicating a humid monsoonal clima

SUBMITTER: Zhang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12694115 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature