Cretaceous fossil woods reveal the paleodistribution and compositional expansion of woody angiosperms

We mapped and synthesized published global angiosperm fossil-wood records across the Cretaceous, from the Aptian to the Maastrichtian. Four hundred twenty-five angiosperm fossil wood occurrences corresponding to 358 different taxa were used for analyzing their spatiotemporal distribution, regional composition, associated climatic zones, and the potential role of climate in their early diversification. We mapped filtered angiosperm fossil-wood occurrences, categorized by stratigraphic precision and taxonomic group to reconstruct their paleogeographic distributions and regional composition over the Cretaceous. Earliest occurrences, of uncertain Aptian–Albian age, are concentrated at northern mid-latitudes and assigned to major crown-group lineages—including fabids, malvids, and asterids. Mapped Albian occurrences extend across both hemispheres and are associated mainly with temperate humid-subtropical (Ca) and tropical savanna (As/Aw) climate zones. Recorded taxonomic richness increased markedly during the Santonian–Maastrichtian as occurrences extended mainly from the tropics to high latitudes. This global angiosperm fossil wood record shows a distribution consistent with a potential role for humid conditions in the early expansion of woody angiosperms, but it may also reflect spatial and taphonomic sampling biases, notably in the Southern Hemisphere.