Animal-plant relationships and paleobiogeography of an Eocene seagrass community from Florida

Fossil seagrasses are rare in the geologic record. As a result, their patterns of biogeographic distribution and community evolution are poorly understood. An excellent example of a preserved seagrass community occurs in the late Middle Eocene Avon Park Formation of west-central, peninsular Florida. The most common seagrasses present are species of Thalassodendron and Cymodocea. As with modern seagrass communities, a diverse assemblage of epibionts, molluscs, and echinoderms is found in association with the blades and rhizomes. Also occurring with the seagrasses and elsewhere in the formation are the remains of some of the oldest dugongs yet known. A strong Tethyan paleobiogeographic connection, previously noted among the Eocene molluscs of Florida, is supported by the seagrasses and dugongs. -from Authors