The non-flowering plants of a near-polar forest in East Gondwana, Tasmania, Australia, during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.
Miriam A SlodownikPublished in: American journal of botany (2024)
The fossil assemblage represents a mixed near-polar forest with a high diversity of conifers. The morphology and preservation of several species indicate adaptations to life at high latitudes. The coexistence of large- and small-leaved conifers implies complex, possibly open forest structures. Comparisons with contemporaneous assemblages from Argentina support a circumpolar biome during the EECO, reaching from southern Australia across Antarctica to southern South America.