| Metapodocarpoxylon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Araucariales |
| Family: | Podocarpaceae |
| Genus: | † Metapodocarpoxylon Dupéron-Laudoueneix & Pons, 1985 |
Metapodocarpoxylon is an extinct genus of conifer from the Mesozoic era, suggested to be related with the family Podocarpaceae. The ecological closest living equivalent is the genus Dacrydium, yet this fossil wood probably represented a more basal taxon, maybe akin to Saxegothaea . [1] [2] [3] Alternatively it can represent convergently evolved Palissyales or Voltziales. [4] Multiple species of this genus are know from units that represented vast alluvial plains that were prevalent across regions such as Mali, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Cameroon and Egypt, as well in N South America (Colombia), with a possible record on Italy, asocciated usually with the genus Agathoxylon , likely building large scale evergreen tropophilous forests. [5] Some species were previously referred to the genus Protophyllocladoxylon . [6] Recent data has revelated the 1st specimens of the genus from the Laurasia region (Huoshaoshan Formation at Qinghai) and the oldest, of Early Jurassic age, suggesting the genus appeared first in the northern hemisphere and then moved to the south. [7] It was after then mostly associated with the Equatorial Mesozoic regions. [7] [8]
