Modelled hemispheric pattern in extant conifer nodes
A 489-species time tree found older combined median node ages in predominantly Southern Hemisphere conifer lineages than in sampled Northern Hemisphere lineages, a relative living-lineage pattern rather than a fossil range.
Represented range8.7–5.2 Ma
RegionsNorthern and Southern Hemisphere living-species sample
In a fossil-calibrated time tree sampling 489 living conifer species, predominantly Southern Hemisphere lineages including Araucariaceae had an older combined median extant-node age than sampled Northern Hemisphere Pinaceae and Cupressoideae, 8.7 versus 5.2 Ma; this relative modelled pattern is not a fossil range or family-origin date.