The group of international scientists from the United States and Brunei discovered the fossil leaves of Dryobalanops Rappa, or Driobalanopse Tree (local name – Kapur Paya), aged exceeding 2 million years. This is the first antique evidence of the first direct biology about the existence of a modern tree in the ancient tropical forests of Asia.
The introduction was published in the scientific publication of Botany magazine (AJB) of the US. The team has identified fossils in the micro details of the leaf epidermis. The comparison shows the coincidence completely with the modern rapa Dryobalanops, today is only found in Borneo's peat forests and is in the threat of disappearing. Dryobalanops Rappa belongs to the Dipter family -Carpo -giant trees that play the main role in carbon storage and biodiversity maintenance.
However, due to cutting forests and destroying peat swamps, these species quickly disappeared. Prior to this finding, biological data about Asian tropical forests is extremely scarce compared to Amazon and Africa. Now scientists have shown that modern plants existed here during the Pliocene period. Scientists plan to continue searching fossils in Southeast Asia to restore the full picture of the evolution of tropical forests. This can help develop measures to protect endangered species and their habitats.