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Camptotheca Decaisne, an endemic genus with three species confined in central and southern China, is medically important for its anticancer effects. Fossil records indicate extinct genera Amersinia Manchester, Crane & Golovneva and Browniea Manchester et Hickey represented Palaeogene members of the Nyssaceae family resembling extant Camptotheca Decaisne. However, no fossil record of Camptotheca is reported until now. Here we present the first fossil of Camptotheca based on infructescences and fruits from the late Miocene of southwestern China, which is within its modern indigenous region. The fossils represented by drupaceous fruits with distinctive characters conform to Camptotheca and are distinguishable from the previous extinct genera Amersinia and Browniea, and extant genera Davidia and Nyssa of the family Nyssaceae s.s. This finding represents the first occurrence of the extant genus Camptotheca and deepens the fossil history of 'happy trees' back to late Miocene. It demonstrates by late Miocene, Camptotheca had inhabited in the current endemic region where it has survived to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The living fossil Craigia consists only two species Craigia yunnanensis W.W. Smith et W.E. Evans and Craigia kwangsiensis H.H. Hsue, endemic to East Asia. Craigia is a typical palaeoendemic genus, with an extensive fossil record in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe and Asia); but there is a temporospatial gap between its fossil occurrences and the modern populations, so its migration history is enigmatic. The earliest fossil record is from Northeast Asia and extant species are relictual, occurring only in southwestern China, northeastern India and northern Vietnam. Here, we describe a new fossil species, Craigia lincangensis Wang et Xie sp. nov., based on fruits from Late Miocene of Yunnan, China. This new finding along with other fossil records in Asia clarifies the southward migration route in Asia. The Miocene occurrence in this investigation represents the youngest record of Craigia so far in Asia and sheds new light on the final migration into its relict habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]