Late Oligocene-Early Miocene leaf macrofossils confirm a long history of Agathis in New Zealand

The antiquity of lineages in the extant indigenous flora of New Zealand is controversial, and plant macrofossils provide important evidence for testing hypotheses for in situ survival of ancient lineages or their geologically recent arrival by long-distance dispersal. Cuticle analysis of organically preserved leaf fossils confirms the presence of Agathis in New Zealand since at least the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. Well-preserved Agathis foliage occurs in a leaf litter bed within a thick seam of resiniferous lignite in the middle Gore Lignite Measures, Newvale Mine, Waimumu, Southland. The Agathis leaf fossils have some affinities with extant Agathis australis.