Permineralized fruits from the late Eocene of Panama give clues of the composition of forests established early in the uplift of Central America

► We report eight species of endocarps and seeds from the late Eocene of Panama. ► Affinities at the family level include Vitaceae, Humiriaceae, and Anacardiaceae. ► At the genus level we report the Old World Leea and Dracontomelon. ► The fossils constitute the only macro record for the Eocene in Central America. ► The fossils are a record of the colonizing vegetation in the emergent volcanic arc.