Late Cainozoic Vegetation History of North-Western Australia, From the Palynology of a Deep Sea Core (ODP Site 765)

In the late Miocene, casuarinaceous forests were predominant in north-western Australia. Through the Pliocene and Pleistocene, Casuarinaceae declined and Poaceae increased, until grasslands predominated. Acacia and some other shrub species were present, suggesting possible shrublands. Surprisingly, however, there were very few Myrtaceae; hence, eucalypt dominated vegetation was never present in this part of Australia. The present vegetation of Acacia shrublands and tussock/hummock grasslands developed, therefore, from casuarinaceous forests. The late Cainozoic palaeovegetation is compared with others of equivalent age elsewhere in Australia.