Oligocene - Early Miocene macrofossils of parts of a fertile frond are assigned to the extant South American species Lophosoria quadripinnata (Gmel.)C.Chr. These macrofossils bear the dispersed spore species Cyatheacidites annulatus Cookson ex Potonié, which has an extensive recorded history in the Southern hemisphere, only recently retracting to its current range. This history suggests major episodes of expansion and extinction, with a double extinction occurring in Australia and the Falkland Plateau and Cenozoic introductions to the Kerguelen Islands and the Falkland Plateau that probably involved transoceanic dispersal. Cretaceous Lophosoria records may or may not include L. quadripinnata, but they probably included several related species, especially in the southern South America - Antarctic Peninsula region, where other dispersed spore species of Cyatheacidites and the macrofossil species L. cupulatus are recognised. This species diversity probably collapsed during the Cretaceous, possibly due to angiosperm radiation. The Cenozoic record of C. annulatus in Australia appears to represent a radiation of L. quadripinnata, probably from South America and possibly involving long distance dispersal via West Antarctica. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Evolutionary biology
Research Field:	Plant and fungus systematics and taxonomy
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
UTAS Author:	Jordan, GJ (Professor Greg Jordan)
ID Code:	22467
Year Published:	2001
Web of Science® Times Cited:	16
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-03
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