Under the microscope it looks just like a freshly picked leaf: the stomata on this fossil found in Brunei are still razor-sharp. Yet this leaf is at least two million years old. Palaeobotanists have identified it on the basis of microscopic features as Dryobalanops rappa, a tree species that grows several metres tall and is now critically endangered. (American Journal of Botany, 9 May). It is the first time that a still-living tropical tree species has been found as a fossil. The species played a key role in South-East Asian rainforests for millions of years, which are thought to be teeming with such ‘living fossils’, according to the biologists. (SvS)
Leaf of a living specimen of Dryobalanops rappa. Source: Chien C. Lee, iNaturalis.