Livistona mariae and how it got into central Australia - where science meets ancient oral storytelling

[fotodimatti]

A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined the Livistona mariae palm, endemic to arid central Australia. Despite its isolated location, genetic analysis revealed that this species is not an ancient relic but has a more recent origin, suggesting historical long-distance dispersal events.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2012.0103?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3oXeifgs9htq6J4qAZEdjPUKbWMq7TwaDDxgYAYfGWUN6TdMkI7JXl8qQ_aem_kSeU_nW1mm8IOnT1_mfpIw

[Jonathan]

On 2/10/2025 at 7:14 AM, fotodimatti said:

A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined the Livistona mariae palm, endemic to arid central Australia. Despite its isolated location, genetic analysis revealed that this species is not an ancient relic but has a more recent origin, suggesting historical long-distance dispersal events.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2012.0103?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3oXeifgs9htq6J4qAZEdjPUKbWMq7TwaDDxgYAYfGWUN6TdMkI7JXl8qQ_aem_kSeU_nW1mm8IOnT1_mfpIw

Hi Matti, it's an interesting study - I remember seeing it previously and wondering why anyone would walk 1000km with a bag full of palm fruits and not have eaten them all before arrival? Birds would seem a more likely dispersal vector, a lot of Australian species are highly nomadic...but as they mentioned in the study it's a long way to fly without pooping!

Another question that worries me about the theory of recent dispersal is that it doesn’t account for other plant species native to the region that are possibly relicts of wetter climates such as Macrozamia macdonellii and Ficus desertorum...it's a mystery.