Amber from the Triassic to Paleogene of Australia and New Zealand as exceptional preservation of poorly known terrestrial ecosystems

Abstract

The Northern Hemisphere dominates our knowledge of Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossilized tree resin (amber) with few fndings from the high southern paleolatitudes of Southern Pangea and Southern Gondwana. Here we report new Pangean andGondwana amber occurrences dating from ~230 to 40 Ma from Australia (Late Triassic and Paleogene of Tasmania; Late Cretaceous Gippsland Basin in Victoria; Paleocene and late middle Eocene ofVictoria) and New Zealand (LateCretaceousChatham Islands). The Paleogene, richly fossiliferous deposits contain signifcant and diverse inclusions of arthropods, plants and fungi.These austral discoveries open six new windows to diferent but crucial intervals ofthe Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, providing the earliest occurrence(s) of some taxa in the modern fauna and fora giving new insights into the ecology and evolution of polar and subpolarterrestrial ecosystems.