The fossil record of Cunoniaceae: new evidence from Late Cretaceous wood of Antarctica?

Fossil angiosperm wood from Upper Cretaceous sediments of Livingston Island and James Ross Island in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region is identi fied as having the combination of anatomical characters most similar to mod ern Cunoniaceae. The material is characterised by predominantly solitary ve ssels, opposite to scalariform intervessel pitting, scalariform perforation plates, heterocellular multiseriate and homocellular uniseriate rays, diff use axial parenchyma. Anatomically, the specimens conform most closely to t he fossil organ genus Weinmannioxylon Petriella which has been placed withi n the Cunoniaceae. The presence of Weinmannioxylon in Late Cretaceous sedim ents suggests that taxa within or stem taxa to the Cunoniaceae might have b een a notable component of the forest vegetation that covered the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Mesozoic and may therefore represent the earlies t record of this family. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .