XVI International Botanical Congess

Recent phylogenetic analyses using molecular data have resulted in a relatively basal placement of Proteaceae within angiosperms and a well resolved phylogeny of the family. These provide new bases for assessing fossil evidence for the origin and early diversification of Proteaceae, and explicit hypotheses of relationships for evaluating the systematic affinities of Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic proteaceous macro- and microfossils. This presentation will reassess critical aspects of the fossil record of Proteaceae in light of these recent phylogenies, concentrating on the implications for character evolution, timing of lineage divergence, and past and present distributions of intrafamilial groups.