How Old Is the Presence of the Canary Pine Forests in the Canary Islands?

Aim

The Neogene fossil record of Pinus canariensis C.Sm ex DC. suggests a wider past distribution in Europe, but due to extirpation by past climatic events, today this taxon is restricted to the Canary Islands. Remarkably, the putative oldest P. canariensis fossil for the Canary Islands, found in Gran Canaria is 13.3–13.0 Ma. This palaeobiogeographical information has been cited as proof of the deep-time presence of conifers, the genus Pinus L., P. canariensis and the pine forest ecosystems in the Canary Islands, but also to justify the long-term evolution of P. canariensis within an active insular volcanic environment. Here we present a re-evaluation of the oldest Pinus fossil from the Canary Island.

Location

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.

Taxon

Pinus canariensis C.Sm ex DC.

Methods

We compiled a citation record for the mentions of the ‘bark fossil’ and conducted a review of the specimen. We compared it with extant P. canariensis and with pyroclasts.

Results

The analysis of the specimen demonstrates that it lacks morphological or anatomical characters to identify as a bark or even as a plant fossil. The specimen is best interpreted as a lapilli-sized tube pumice, highly altered by mineral deposition promoted by the percolating hydrothermal water.

Main Conclusions

The oldest reliable Pinus fossils from the Canary Islands are 3.9–3.1 Ma and ca. 9 to 10 Ma younger than previously claimed. When did Pinus arrive at the Canary Islands is unknown, but this biogeographical question can be approached via focused volcano-stratigraphical and palaeobotanical research in this Archipelago.