Metapodocarpoxylon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of plant}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Jurassic|Cretaceous}}

| taxon = Metapodocarpoxylon

| species_text =

| authority = Dupéron-Laudoueneix & Pons, 1985

| subdivision_ranks = See Text

}}

Metapodocarpoxylon is an extinct genus of conifer from the Mesozoic era, suggested to be related with the family Podocarpaceae. The ecological closest living equivalent is the genus Dacrydium, yet this fossil wood probably represented a more basal taxon, maybe akin to Saxegothaea.{{cite journal |last1=Gazeau |first1=F. |title=Sur quelques structures de bois Mésozoïques du Maroc |journal=Notes, Mém. Serv. Géol. Maroc |date=1969 |volume=210 |issue=3 |pages=93–120}}{{cite journal |last1=Philippe |first1=M. |last2=Bamford |first2=M. |last3=McLoughlin |first3=S. |last4=Alves |first4=L. S. R. |last5=Falcon-Lang |first5=H. J. |last6=Gnaedinger |first6=S. |last7=Zamuner |first7=A. |title=Biogeographic analysis of Jurassic–Early Cretaceous wood assemblages from Gondwana |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |date=2004 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=141–173 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2004.01.005 |bibcode=2004RPaPa.129..141P }}{{Cite journal |last1=El-Noamani |first1=Zainab M. |last2=El-Saadawi |first2=Wagieh E. |last3=Philippe |first3=Marc |date=2021-10-01 |title=The woods Protophyllocladoxylon and Metapodocarpoxylon within the Cretaceous terrestrial biota of northern Africa |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667121001488 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=126 |pages=104901 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104901 |bibcode=2021CrRes.12604901E |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }} Alternatively it can represent convergently evolved Palissyales or Voltziales.{{Cite journal |last1=Andruchow-Colombo |first1=Ana |last2=Escapa |first2=Ignacio H |last3=Aagesen |first3=Lone |last4=Matsunaga |first4=Kelly K S |date=2023-08-04 |title=In search of lost time: tracing the fossil diversity of Podocarpaceae through the ages |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boad027 |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=203 |issue=4 |pages=315–336 |doi=10.1093/botlinnean/boad027 |issn=0024-4074|hdl=11336/227952 |hdl-access=free }} Multiple species of this genus are know from units that represented vast alluvial plains that were prevalent across regions such as Mali, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Cameroon and Egypt, as well in N South America (Colombia), with a possible record on Italy, asocciated usually with the genus Agathoxylon, likely building large scale evergreen tropophilous forests.{{Cite journal |last1=Philippe |first1=M. |last2=Cuny |first2=G. |last3=Bamford |first3=M. |last4=Jaillard |first4=E. |last5=Barale |first5=G. |last6=Gomez |first6=B. |last7=Ouaja |first7=M. |last8=Thévenard |first8=F. |last9=Thiébaut |first9=M. |last10=Von Sengbusch |first10=P. |date=2003 |title=The palaeoxylological record of Metapodocarpoxylon libanoticum (Edwards) Dupéron-Laudoueneix et Pons and the Gondwana Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous continental biogeography |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00835.x |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=389–400 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00835.x |bibcode=2003JBiog..30..389P |issn=0305-0270|url-access=subscription }} Some species were previously referred to the genus Protophyllocladoxylon.{{Cite journal |last1=Zijlstra |first1=Gea |last2=Philippe |first2=Marc |date=2020 |title=(2741) Proposal to conserve the name Protophyllocladoxylon (fossil Coniferophyta: Coniferales) with a conserved type |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tax.12227 |journal=Taxon |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=412–413 |doi=10.1002/tax.12227 |issn=0040-0262}} Recent data has revelated the 1st specimens of the genus from the Laurasia region (Huoshaoshan Formation at Qinghai) and the oldest, of Early Jurassic age, suggesting the genus appeared first in the northern hemisphere and then moved to the south.{{Cite journal |last=Xie |first=Aowei |last2=Chen |first2=Hongyu |last3=Wang |first3=Yongdong |last4=Tian |first4=Ning |last5=Xu |first5=Min |last6=Zhu |first6=Yanbin |last7=Zhang |first7=Li |last8=Teng |first8=Xiao |last9=Uhl |first9=Dieter |date=2025 |title=An exceptionally preserved conifer wood Metapodocarpoxylon from the Jurassic of northeastern Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau, and its palaeobiogeographic and palaeoclimatic significances |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/an-exceptionally-preserved-conifer-wood-metapodocarpoxylon-from-the-jurassic-of-northeastern-qinghaixizang-tibetan-plateau-and-its-palaeobiogeographic-and-palaeoclimatic-significances/CD99081983454A256804A66292DDEB9E |journal=Geological Magazine |language=en |volume=162 |pages=e7 |doi=10.1017/S0016756824000451 |issn=0016-7568|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }} It was after then mostly associated with the Equatorial Mesozoic regions.{{Cite journal |last=Maria da Conceição |first=Domingas |last2=Esperança Júnior |first2=Mário G. F. |last3=Gobo |first3=William V. |last4=Iannuzzi |first4=Roberto |last5=Batista |first5=Maria E. P. |last6=Rodrigues do Nascimento |first6=Daniel |last7=Ferreira da Silva Filho |first7=Wellington |last8=Horodysk |first8=Rodrigo Scalise |last9=Bamford |first9=Marion K. |last10=Kunzmann |first10=Lutz |date=2025-02-04 |title=Unique conifer assemblage from Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous deposits (NE Brazil) unveils the paleoclimate and paleobiogeography in the interior of equatorial Gondwana |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667125000229 |journal=Cretaceous Research |pages=106099 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106099 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}