Late Paleozoic Floras of the Southern Hemisphere: Distribution, Composition, Paleoecology

Abstract

The paleobotanical literature contains frequent references to paleofloristic regions (often called “floral provinces”) for the Late Paleozoic. Halle (1937) published an early map showing the distribution of four different floral associations in Asia, viz. the Glossopteris Flora, the Angara Flora, the European Permo-Carboniferous Flora and the Cathaysia Flora. Gothan and Weylan (1954) completed this map by adding information from different parts of the world. In 1962 Wagner published a general map showing a Permo-Carboniferous Equatorial Belt separating the northern hemisphere Angara Flora from the southern hemisphere Gondwana Flora. The diagrammatic representation by Meyen (1969) shows the increasing diversifications of these floras with geological time. A later version (Meyen in Chaloner and Meyen, 1973, and in Vakhrameiev, et al., 1978) shows an early differentation into two major units, i.e., the Arcto-Carboniferous Kingdom and the Gondwana Kingdom. The former would be subdivided into the Euramerican and Angara areas, to be distinguished from the Early Carboniferous onwards.