New Progress on the Miocene Gymnosperm Fossil Wood of Lesvos Petrified Forest, Lesvos Island, Greece, and Its Palaeoclimate Significance

This paper briefly reports the new results on Miocene gymnosperm fossil wood assemblage from Lesvos, including four families and 10 genera: Tsuga, Pseudotsuga, Keteleeria, Larix, Pinus, Lesbosoxylon(Pinaceae), Metasequoia, Sequoioa, Taxodium (Cupressaceae), Taxaceoxylon (Taxaceae). Among them, Pinaceae exhibits the highest taxonomic richness. Pseudotsuga, Keteleeria and Metasequoia were found in Greece for the first time. At present, the Lesvos fossil wood flora is one of the Miocene wood flora with highest diversity found in Greece and even in Mediterranean, which enriches the fossil record of gymnosperms in the Miocene of Greece. The occurrence of abnormal growth rings and traumatic resin canals in Lesvos fossil woods reflect the short-term climate fluctuations, natural hazard or the interaction between plants and the associated organisms in the forest ecosystem. Further study of this fossil wood flora will provide important evidence for understanding the evolution and development history of modern gymnosperms in Mediterranean and their palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate background.