Abstract

PEREZ-LARA, Diana Karen; ESTRADA-RUIZ, Emilio  and  CASTANEDA-POSADAS, Carlos. New species of Laurinoxylon (Lauraceae) of the El Bosque Formation (Eocene), Chiapas, Mexico. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2019, vol.71, n.3, pp.761-772.  Epub Dec 16, 2019. ISSN 1405-3322.  https://doi.org/10.18268/bsgm2019v71n3a8.

We describe a new species of the fossil genus Laurinoxylon from the El Bosque Formation (Eocene), Chiapas, Mexico. The new species is characterized by: diffuse porous wood with indistinct growth rings; solitary vessels and in radial multiples of two to three vessels per radial multiple; simple perforation plates; alternate intervessel pits: septate and non-septate fibers; round vesselray parenchyma pits, horizontally and vertically elongated with reduced borders; axial parenchyma scanty paratracheal, vasicentric, apotracheal diffuse; heterogeneous rays, and oil cells associated to the ray parenchyma and among the fibers. This fossil genus has been described before from the Cretaceous to the Neogene, worldwide. This is the first formal record of Laurinoxylon and the first Eocene macrofossil report of Lauraceae from Mexico. This new species supports the hypothesis that the Lauraceae had a wide distribution during the past and that Mexico may be an important region for the diversification of the family as evidenced by its fossil record dating from the Late Cretaceous and by the high number of genera and species that currently grow in Mexico.

Keywords : Eocene; Laurinoxy-lon; El Bosque Formation; Chiapas; Mexico; fossil wood.