Biogeographic analysis of Jurassic–Early Cretaceous wood assemblages from Gondwana

Abstract

The terrestrial biogeography of Gondwana during Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times is poorly resolved, and the flora is usually considered to have been rather uniform. This is surprising given the size of Gondwana, which extended from the equator to the South Pole. Documenting Gondwanan terrestrial floristic provincialism in the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times is important because it provides a historical biogeographic context in which to understand the tremendous evolutionary radiations that occurred during the mid-Cretaceous. In this paper, the distribution of Jurassic–Early Cretaceous fossil wood is analysed at generic level across the entire supercontinent. Specifically, wood assemblages are analyzed in terms of five climatic zones (summer wet, desert, winter wet, warm temperate, cool temperate) established on the basis of independent data. Results demonstrate that araucarian-like conifer wood was a dominant, cosmopolitan element, whereas other taxa showed a greater degree of provincialism. Indeed, several narrowly endemic morphogenera are recognizable from the data. Finally, comparisons with Laurasian wood assemblages indicate strong parallelism between the vegetation of both hemispheres.