Genetic tests show Central Australian palm trees diverged from Northern trees more recently than thought

(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, tourists visiting central Australia’s famous Alice Springs have been told that the palm trees in the area are relics left over from the days millions of years ago when Australia’s interior was a tropical zone. Unfortunately, evidence has shown that the old story just isn’t true. Instead, the red cabbage palm, as it’s known locally, came via seeds somehow carried south nearly 1000 kilometers from palms that grow in the north. Now new evidence from a group of Australian and Japanese researchers shows that the red cabbage palm has been diverging from its northern parents for just 15,000 to 30,000 years. They have published their findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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