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New records of Humiriaceae fossil fruits from the Oligocene and Early Miocene of the western Azuero Peninsula, Panamá

Abstract:

Understanding the origin of the diversity in Central American forests requires the integration of both extant and fossil taxa. Here, we provide a description of Humiriaceae fossils from two new sedimentary sequences in the Azuero Peninsula, Panamá. Fossils were recovered from Oligocene (one locality) and Early Miocene (two localities) marginal marine deposits. We describe new specimens and augment the generic description of Lacunofructus cuatrecasana Herrera, Manchester et Jaramillo, and present a new record of Sacoglottis sp. Our results expand the temporal and geographical distribution of both taxa and show that Humiriaceae was an important constituent of early Central American forests, and that this family was dispersed in between Central and South America before the final closure of the Central American Seaway. Further studies are necessary to establish whether the origin of this family was in Central or South America. © 2018, Instituto de Geologã-a, Universidad Nacional Autãnoma de Mã