Metapodocarpoxylon Explained

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]

Species

• M. libanoticum type Lower Cretaceous, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia
• M. chudeaui Lower Cretaceous, Niger
• M. curitiense Lower Cretaceous, Colombia
• M. diphtericum Lower Cretaceous, Cameroon
• M. leuchsii Lower Cretaceous, Egypt
• M. madamaense Lower Cretaceous, Algeria, Tunisia
• M. maurianum Lower-Middle Jurassic, Morocco
• M. rosablancaense Lower Cretaceous, Colombia
• M. subdiphtericum Lower Cretaceous, Cameroon, Italy?
• There are also possible occurrences of the genus from Jurassic deposits of Colombia, Morocco and Tunisia, what would indicate that this endemic vegetation persisted in North Gondwana for a long time.

Notes and References

1. Gazeau . F. . Sur quelques structures de bois Mésozoïques du Maroc . Notes, Mém. Serv. Géol. Maroc . 1969 . 210 . 3 . 93–120.
2. Philippe . M. . Bamford . M. . McLoughlin . S. . Alves . L. S. R. . Falcon-Lang . H. J. . Gnaedinger . S. . Zamuner . A. . Biogeographic analysis of Jurassic–Early Cretaceous wood assemblages from Gondwana . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology . 2004 . 129 . 3 . 141–173 . 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2004.01.005 . 2004RPaPa.129..141P .
3. El-Noamani . Zainab M. . El-Saadawi . Wagieh E. . Philippe . Marc . 2021-10-01 . The woods Protophyllocladoxylon and Metapodocarpoxylon within the Cretaceous terrestrial biota of northern Africa . Cretaceous Research . 126 . 104901 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104901 . 2021CrRes.12604901E . 0195-6671.
4. Andruchow-Colombo . Ana . Escapa . Ignacio H . Aagesen . Lone . Matsunaga . Kelly K S . 2023-08-04 . In search of lost time: tracing the fossil diversity of Podocarpaceae through the ages . Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 203 . 4 . 315–336 . 10.1093/botlinnean/boad027 . 0024-4074. 11336/227952 . free .
5. Philippe . M. . Cuny . G. . Bamford . M. . Jaillard . E. . Barale . G. . Gomez . B. . Ouaja . M. . Thévenard . F. . Thiébaut . M. . Von Sengbusch . P. . 2003 . The palaeoxylological record of Metapodocarpoxylon libanoticum (Edwards) Dupéron-Laudoueneix et Pons and the Gondwana Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous continental biogeography . Journal of Biogeography . 30 . 3 . 389–400 . 10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00835.x . 2003JBiog..30..389P . 0305-0270.
6. Zijlstra . Gea . Philippe . Marc . 2020 . (2741) Proposal to conserve the name Protophyllocladoxylon (fossil Coniferophyta: Coniferales) with a conserved type . TAXON . 69 . 2 . 412–413 . 10.1002/tax.12227 . 0040-0262.