Palaeobiological investigations of the plant and arthropod fossil record from Madeira and Azores archipelagos, Portugal

Publicações

The oldest plant fossils from Tenerife Island? The case of the Pliocene lava tree moulds from San Roque, La Laguna, Spain

Publication . Góis-Marques, C. A.; Velasco-Flores, M. C.; Martín-Luis, M. C.; Castillo-Ruiz, C.; Góis-Marques, Carlos A.

provide interesting palaeoecological and volcanological data. In the volcanic Macaronesian Islands, these fossils are known since the 19 th century but rarely mentioned in the literature, despite their potential to reveal the past presence of trees and forested ecosystems. One mention to plant moulds associated to the Anaga basalts was known, but further details were never published. Here, we describe and illustrate for the first time lava tree moulds preserved within the Pliocene Anaga shield volcano (4.89 to 3.95 Ma) a’a lava flow. The size and stem habit indicate that these belonged to phanerophytes, implying the presence of a forest ecosystem during the Pliocene of Tenerife. When compared to the palaeobotanical record of Tenerife Island, these fossils are, so far, the oldest known published plant fossils from this island. Unfortunately, due to total combustion of the wood, taxa identification is not possible. Despite this, the locality should be further assessed as a potential geosite or other form of conservation for the Canary Islands’ palaeontological heritage. Further prospection in Mio-Pleistocene Anaga shield volcano will certainly yield new palaeobotanical data for Tenerife and the Canary Islands.

2026-05-21Artigo científico

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Palavras-chave

, Natural sciences

Entidade financiadora

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

Programa de financiamento

CEEC IND5ed

Número da atribuição

2022.00017.CEECIND/CP1730/CT0001