Editing Laurus (section)

==Fossil history==
[[File:Fanal Madeira 2016 2.jpg|thumb|300px|Very old laurel trees on Madeira island]]
Fossils dating from before the [[Pleistocene]] [[glaciation]]s show that [[Laurel forest|laurel forests]] containing species of ''Laurus'' were formerly distributed more widely around the [[Mediterranean basin|Mediterranean]] and [[North Africa]], when the climate was more humid and mild than at present.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Development and regional differentiation of the European vegetation during the Tertiary
|journal= Plant Systematics and Evolution
|last=Mai
|first=Dieter H.
|date=March 1989
|volume=162
|pages=79-91
|doi=10.1007/BF00936911
|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00936911
|s2cid=25109937
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|title=A reconstruction of Palaeo-Macaronesia, with particular reference to the long-term biogeography of the Atlantic island laurel forests
|journal=Journal of Biogeography
|last1=Fernández-Palacios
|first1=José María
|last2=de Nascimento
|first2=Lea
|last3=Otto
|first3=Rüdiger
|last4=Delgado
|first4=Juan D.
|last5=García-del-Rey
|first5=Eduardo
|last6=Arévalo
|first6=José Ramón
|last7=Whittaker
|first7=Robert J.
|date=February 2011
|volume=38
|issue=2
|page=226-246
|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02427.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02427.x
|issn=1365-2699
|s2cid=86477003
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref> It is currently thought that the drying of the Mediterranean basin during the glaciations caused ''Laurus'' to retreat to the mildest climate refuges, including southern [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] and the [[Macaronesia]]n islands. With the end of the [[last glacial period]], ''L. nobilis'' recovered some of its former range around the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Reconstructing the demise of Tethyan plants: climate-driven range dynamics of Laurus since the Pliocene
|journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography
|last1=Rodríguez-Sánchez
|first1=Francisco
|last2=Arroyo
|first2=Juan
|date=November 2008
|volume=17
|issue=6
|pages=685-695
|doi=10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00410.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00410.x
|s2cid=86508226
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|title=Late Neogene history of the laurel tree (Laurus L., Lauraceae) based on phylogeographical analyses of Mediterranean and Macaronesian populations
|journal=Journal of Biogeography
|last1=Rodríguez-Sánchez
|first1=Francisco
|last2=Guzmán
|first2=Beatriz
|last3=Valido
|first3=Alfredo
|last4=Vargas
|first4=Pablo
|last5=Arroyo
|first5=Juan
|date=July 2009
|pages=1270-1281
|volume=36
|issue=7
|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02091.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02091.x
|issn=1365-2699
|s2cid=45076431
|hdl=10261/65203
|hdl-access=free
}}</ref>