Fig. 1.

Conservative estimates of the age ranges of Southern Hemisphere vegetation records accepted by Salzmann et al. (3) as indicative of Late Pliocene (Piacenzian, 2.6–3.6 Ma) terrestrial vegetation. Sample code numbers are those used by Salzmann et al. Colors represent record type (pollen, wood, vertebrate, sediment). Bold colors indicate records clearly falling within the Late Pliocene, and faint colors indicate records either falling outside of the Late Pliocene or with broader age ranges. Of the 32 records, only 6 based on plant fossil data can be confidently assigned a Late Pliocene age. For Makapan, two age estimates are provided, reflecting uncertainty whether the record can be attributed to the Pliocene as a whole or to the Late Pliocene.