Hymenaea protera

Taxobox
name = "Hymenaea protera"
fossil_range = Eocene


image_width = 200px
image_caption = "H. protera" flower petal preserved in an amber
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fabales
familia = Fabaceae
subfamilia = Caesalpinioideae
tribus = Detarieae
genus = "Hymenaea" L.
species = "H. protera"
binomial = "Hymenaea protera"
binomial_authority = Poinar

"Hymenaea protera" is an extinct prehistoric leguminous tree, the probable ancestor of present-day "Hymenaea" species. Most neotropical ambers come from its fossilized resin, including the famous Dominican amber.

"H. protera" once grew in an extensive range stretching from southern Mexico down to the Proto-greater Antilles, across northern South America, and on to the African continent. Interestingly, both morphology and DNA studies have revealed that "H. protera" was more closely related to the only species of "Hymenaea" remaining in East Africa than to the more numerous American species.

In 1993, chloroplast DNA dated at 35-40 million years old was extracted from the leaf of "H. protera", preserved in a fossil amber from the La Toca mines, Dominican Republic.

References

* Briggs, Dered E. G. & Crowther, Peter R. (Eds.). (2003). "Palaeobiology II". Blackwell Science. ISBN 0-632-05149-3.
* Willis, K. J. & McElwain, J. C. (2002). "The Evolution of Plants". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850065-3.