Based on the fossil records, it is found that no credible megafossil record of Magnoliaceae exists in Jurassic deposits and all Jurassic microfossil reports remain equivocal and require further study up to now. Many species of Magnoliaceae were widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, such as Asia, Europe and North America while there was no fossil record in Africa and Oceania since Cretaceous. Among the magnoliaceous fossils, the earliest one is Archimagnolia rostrato stylosa Tao et Zhang reported from the Lower Cretaceous Dalazi Formation of Yanji district, Northeast China. According to the fossil records and the distribution pattern of extant Magnoliaceae, the results can be drawn as follows: 1) This family originated no later than Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian). 2) It seems that this family probably originated in East Asia, and then spread southward to tropical Asia and northward to Europe. The North American Magnoliaceae may have been derived from the Eurasian landmass before the complete separation between North America and Europe, and the South American Magnoliaceae might come from North America. 3) The fact that Magnolia occurred earlier than Liriodendron supports the result drawn from morphological and molecular analysis that Magnolia is more primitive than Liriodendron.
