Banksia paleocrypta | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Proteales |
Family: | Proteaceae |
Genus: | Banksia |
Species: | †B. paleocrypta
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Binomial name | |
†Banksia paleocrypta R. Carpenter, 2014
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Banksia paleocrypta is an extinct species of Banksia in the family Proteaceae. The species is known from silcretes deposits from the Walebing and Kojonup regions of southwestern Australia dating to the Late Eocene.[1] This species is the oldest fossil in the genus Banksia with evidence of stomata and trichomes, characteristics of xerophytes which are adapted to survive in environments with very little water. These traits slow water loss in arid climates.[2] However Banksia paleocrypta is of special interest because it is dated 25 million years prior to the widely accepted timing for the onset of aridity that expanded globally during the Neogene.[3][4]