A new species of Chaneya from the Oligocene Ningming Formation, Guangxi, South China

Chaneya ningmingensis sp. nov. is described from the Oligocene Ningming Formation in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, South China. Fruits of the new species are characterized by bearing five persistent, free, large petals, each containing five craspedodromous, longitudinally subparallel primary veins, and their thickened central disk bearing one whorl of five free, orbicular ovaries. The discovery of C. ningmingensis provides the evidence of the occurrence of Chaneya Wang et Manchester in Oligocene sediments of South China. This is the first Oligocene record of Chaneya from East Asia. Considering the continuous occurrence of Chaneya in the Cenozoic deposits from the early Eocene to the Miocene, East Asia may be a center of diversification and differentiation for the genus Chaneya.