An araucarian conifer bract-scale complex from the Lower Jurassic of Massachusetts: implications for estimating phylogenetic/stratigraphic congruence in the Araucariaceae

Araucariaceae is displayed at 201.4–0 Ma only as a Hettangian-specimen-to-living navigation anthology: Holyoke specimen J 1430 is a bona fide family occurrence but does not establish the family FAD, crown origin or uninterrupted global occupancy.

Holyoke specimen J 1430 comes from the Hettangian South Hadley Falls Member of the Portland Formation in Massachusetts; this single Lower Jurassic occurrence does not establish a complete family distribution, endemicity or absence elsewhere.

Specimen J 1430 is a single bract-scale complex with a wedge-like outline, central seed-bearing region and lateral wings; these directly described characters support the sampled fossil comparison but are not universal family traits.

The isolated Holyoke bract-scale and the combined family phylogeny do not directly determine diet, habitat preference, growth observation, whole-plant body size or one ecological guild for Araucariaceae; those fields are explicitly withheld or locality-bounded.