RESEARCH INTERESTS
1. Cenozoic palynology, palaeoclimate, and palaeoenvironment, particularly Asian region.
2. Biostratigraphy in SE Asia, particularly Myanmar and Indonesia.
3. Evolutional history and biogeography of plants, particularly palms (Arecaceae).
4. Neogene palaeobotany of SW China, particularly Yunnan.
1. Cenozoic palynology, palaeoclimate, and palaeoenvironment, particularly Asian region.
2. Biostratigraphy in SE Asia, particularly Myanmar and Indonesia.
3. Evolutional history and biogeography of plants, particularly palms (Arecaceae).
4. Neogene palaeobotany of SW China, particularly Yunnan.
Buxus fossil leaves and their cuticles from the late Pliocene of Southwest China (Huang et al., 2016)
MAIN RESEACH COLLABORATIONS
Palynova Ltd., Royal Holloway University of London, University of Bristol, UK
University of Rennes, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
University of Potsdam, Germany
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Universidad Distrital Francisco José Caldas, Colombia
University of Yangon, Shewbo University, Myanmar Geosciences Society, Myanmar
Palynova Ltd., Royal Holloway University of London, University of Bristol, UK
University of Rennes, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
University of Potsdam, Germany
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Universidad Distrital Francisco José Caldas, Colombia
University of Yangon, Shewbo University, Myanmar Geosciences Society, Myanmar
RESEARCH REPORTS
1. First fossil record of Buxus reported from Yunnan.
Buxus pliosinica is the first fossil record of Buxus from the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The occurrence of B. pliosinica indicates that Buxus has existed on the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau since at least the late Pliocene (about 3.6-2.6 million years ago).
1. First fossil record of Buxus reported from Yunnan.
Buxus pliosinica is the first fossil record of Buxus from the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The occurrence of B. pliosinica indicates that Buxus has existed on the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau since at least the late Pliocene (about 3.6-2.6 million years ago).
Buxus fossil leaves and thier cuticles from the late Pliocene of Southwest China (Huang et al., 2018)
2. Myanmar palm pollen fossil and its implications.
In the Palaeogene, pollen assemblages at low and mid latitudes are characterized by abundant palm and palm-like (PPL) taxa. Although these taxa have been widely reported, their occurrence in the Palaeogene of Myanmar remains poorly documented. Here we report on the morphology of PPL pollen along a middle to upper Eocene sedimentary sequence in central Myanmar and discuss their nearest living relatives (NLRs). Additionally, we mapped and compared the geographic distribution of selected Eocene palm taxa and their NLRs, and found that their distributional ranges shrank after the Eocene. Moreover, in the Palaeogene species diversity of selected PPL taxa seems lower in Myanmar than in the Indian subcontinent and other regions in SE Asia. We hypothesize that in the Eocene the Indo-Asian collision zone formed a ‘hotspot’ for palm diversity, which is reflected in species-rich palynofloras. However, the local palm diversity declined after the Eocene, while at global level palm distribution distinctly was reduced between the Eocene and present. We propose that the retreat of the palms may have occurred as early as the Eocene–Oligocene Transition (EOT), which remains to be confirmed by the study of EOT pollen records in tropical regions.
In the Palaeogene, pollen assemblages at low and mid latitudes are characterized by abundant palm and palm-like (PPL) taxa. Although these taxa have been widely reported, their occurrence in the Palaeogene of Myanmar remains poorly documented. Here we report on the morphology of PPL pollen along a middle to upper Eocene sedimentary sequence in central Myanmar and discuss their nearest living relatives (NLRs). Additionally, we mapped and compared the geographic distribution of selected Eocene palm taxa and their NLRs, and found that their distributional ranges shrank after the Eocene. Moreover, in the Palaeogene species diversity of selected PPL taxa seems lower in Myanmar than in the Indian subcontinent and other regions in SE Asia. We hypothesize that in the Eocene the Indo-Asian collision zone formed a ‘hotspot’ for palm diversity, which is reflected in species-rich palynofloras. However, the local palm diversity declined after the Eocene, while at global level palm distribution distinctly was reduced between the Eocene and present. We propose that the retreat of the palms may have occurred as early as the Eocene–Oligocene Transition (EOT), which remains to be confirmed by the study of EOT pollen records in tropical regions.
SEM palm pollen grains in the Central Myanmar Basin (Huang et al., 2020)
Fieldwork in the Central Myanmar Basin