Correspondence

摘要

DNA analysis of the Australian outbacks only palm tree, Livistona mariae, indicates that it originated from seeds brought from the north of the country - a finding backed up by a recently unearthed Aboriginal myth. This neatly illustrates how traditional ecological knowledge might inform modern research. Known as the cabbage palm and found only in Palm Creek, L. mariae (pictured) diverged between 7,000 and 31,000 years ago from its relative Livistona rigida, found 1,000 kilometres to the north (see Nature 483,248; 2012). Because these dates overlap with human occupancy, the study concluded that the seeds could have been transported south and planted in central Australia.