中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

Camptotheca Decaisne, an endemic genus with three species confined in central and southern China, is medically important for its anticancer effects. Fossil records indicate extinct genera Amersinia Manchester, Crane & Golovneva and Browniea Manchester et Hickey represented Palaeogene members of the Nyssaceae family resembling extant Camptotheca Decaisne. However, no fossil record of Camptotheca is reported until now. Here we present the first fossil of Camptotheca based on infructescences and fruits from the late Miocene of southwestern China, which is within its modern indigenous region. The fossils represented by drupaceous fruits with distinctive characters conform to Camptotheca and are distinguishable from the previous extinct genera Amersinia and Browniea, and extant genera Davidia and Nyssa of the family Nyssaceae s.s. This finding represents the first occurrence of the extant genus Camptotheca and deepens the fossil history of 'happy trees' back to late Miocene. It demonstrates by late Miocene, Camptotheca had inhabited in the current endemic region where it has survived to the present day.