NEW MIDDLE MIOCENE FOSSIL WOOD OF WATARIA (MALVACEAE) FROM SOUTHWEST CHINA

Abstract

This paper describes a new species of fossil wood, Wataria yunnanica Li et Oskolski, from the Dajie Formation of the middle Miocene in southern Yunnan province, China. This species shows the greatest similarity to the modern genus Reevesia Lindl. from the subfamily Helicteroideae of Malvaceae. The fossil specimen is ascribed to the genus Wataria Terada & Suzuki based on its combination of ring-porous wood and the presence of tile cells. It differs from other Wataria species because vessel groups are common in its latewood. This is the first record of Wataria in China. Other species of this genus have been reported from Oligocene and Miocene deposits in Japan, and from Miocene deposits in Korea. The occurrence of ring-porous wood in the Dajie Formation suggests that there may have been a seasonal (probably monsoonal) climate in southern Yunnan during the middle Miocene.