Home / Articles in Palaeobotany / Whole Plant Reconstructions

! J.M. Anderson and H.M. Anderson (2023): Molteno Kannaskoppia: Mid-Triassic gymnosperm case study for whole-plant taxonomy. In PDF, 82 MB!. Palaeontologia africana, 57 (Special issue). Annals of the Evolutionary Studies Institute University of Witwatersrand.
See likewise here.
"... The flora from the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation, southern Africa, is the most extensively collected and documented macro-flora in the Gondwana Triassic
[...] In this volume, the genus Kannaskoppia and affiliates, in the order Petriellales, are described in greater detail
[...] Whole-plant species from the Molteno have been recognized, based on considerations of affiliation and taphonomy ..."

H.M. Anderson et al. (2008): Stems with attached Dicroidium leaves from the Ipswich Coal Measures, Queensland, Australia. PDF file, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 52: 1-12. See also here.

! B. Axsmith et al. (2018): A Triassic Mystery Solved: Fertile Pekinopteris From the Triassic of North Carolina, United States. PDF file, Chapter 10; in: M. Krings, C.J. Harper, N.R. Cuneo and G.W. Rothwell (eds.): Transformative Paleobotany Papers to Commemorate the Life and Legacy of Thomas N. Taylor.
Note fig. 10.1: A suggested reconstruction of Pekinopteris auriculata.

Brian J. Axsmith et al. (2007): The "New Approach to Corystospermales" and the Antarctic Fossil Record: A Critique. Ameghiniana, 44. See also here (PDF file).

M. Barbacka et al. (2022): Polish Palaeobotany: 750 Million Years of Plant History as Revealed in a Century of Studies. Mesozoic Macroflora. Open access, Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 91.
See also here.
Note figure 4: A reconstruction of Patokaea silesiaca.
Figure 10. Leaves of selected Late Cretaceous plants from Poland.

! R.M. Bateman and W.A. DiMichele (2021): Escaping the voluntary constraints of “tyre-track” taxonomy. Open access, Taxon.

R.M. Bateman and J. Hilton (2010): (175–176) Proposals to modify the provisions in the Code for naming fossil plants. In PDF, Taxon 59.

! R.M. Bateman and J. Hilton (2009): Palaeobotanical systematics for the phylogenetic age: applying organspecies, form-species and phylogenetic species concepts in a framework of reconstructed fossil and extant whole-plants. In PDF, Taxon, 58: 254–1280.

J. Bodnar and I.H. Escapa (2016): Towards a whole plant reconstruction for Austrohamia (Cupressaceae): http://www.academia.edu/1023031/Palaeobotanical_systematics_for_the_phylogenetic_age_applying_organspecies_form-species_and_phylogenetic_species_concepts_in_a_framework_of_reconstructed_fossil_New fossil wood from the Lower Jurassic of Argentina. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 234: 186-197. See also here (in PDF).
Note Figure 2: The vegetation of the Cerro Bayo landscape (Early Jurassic, Patagonia), consisting mainly of Austrohamia minuta. In the understorey dipteridaceous, osmundaceous and marattiaceous ferns.

! B. Bomfleur et al. (2013): Whole-Plant Concept and Environment Reconstruction of a Telemachus Conifer (Voltziales) from the Triassic of Antarctica. In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 174: 425–444. See also here (abstract).
Note fig. 8 (PDF page 16): Reconstructions of various organs of the Triassic conifer Telemachus.

C.K. Boyce and M.A. Zwieniecki (2019): The prospects for constraining productivity through time with the whole-plant physiology of fossils Open access, New Phytologist, 223: 40–49.

! C.J. Cleal and B.A. Thomas (2021): Naming of parts: the use of fossil-taxa in palaeobotany. In PDF, Fossil Imprint, 77: 166–186.
See also here.

C.J. Cleal et al. (2021): Palaeobotanical experiences of plant diversity in deep time. 1: How well can we identify past plant diversity in the fossil record? Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 576.
See likewise here (in PDF).
"... Autochthonous floras provide the most direct evidence of vegetation diversity but these are rare; most plant beds are allochthonous with plant remains that have been subjected to varying levels of fragmentation, transportation and time averaging
[...] the plant fossil record provides clear evidence of the dynamic history of vegetation through geological times, including the effects of major processes such as climate changes and mass extinctions ..."

D. Contreras et al. (2019): Reconstructing the Early Evolution of the Cupressaceae: A Whole-Plant Description of a New Austrohamia Species from the Cañadón Asfalto Formation (Early Jurassic), Argentina. Int. J. Plant Sci., 180: 834–868. See also here (in PDF).

D.L. Dilcher (1991): The importance of anatomy and whole plant reconstructions in palaeobotany. PDF file, Current Science 61: 627-629.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2006): Paleoecology of Late Paleozoic pteridosperms from tropical Euramerica. In PDF, The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 133: 83-118. See also here.

C. Dong et al. (2018): Whole-Plant Reconstruction and Updated Phylogeny of Austrohamia acanthobractea (Cupressaceae) from the Middle Jurassic of Northeast China. In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 179: 640–662. See also here.

S.R. El-Abdallah (2024): Building detailed and accurate whole-plant concepts: A morphometrics-informed reconstruction of a zosterophyll from the lower Devonian of Wyoming. Thesis, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Arcata, CA.
See likewise here (in PDF).

H.J. Falcon-Lang and A.R. Bashforth (2005): Morphology, anatomy, and upland ecology of large cordaitalean trees from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Newfoundland. PDF file, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 135: 223-243.

P. Giesen and C.M. Berry (2013): Reconstruction and growth of the early tree Calamophyton (Pseudosporochnales, Cladoxylopsida) based on exceptionally complete specimens from Lindlar, Germany (mid-Devonian): organic connection of Calamophyton branches and Duisbergia trunks. PDF file, Int. J. Plant Sci., 174: 665-686.

Alena Gribskov: Reconstructing Calamites: Building Giants from Fragments. PDF file, Yale College Writing Center, EEB 171: Collections of the Peabody Museum.

G. Han et al. (2016): A Whole Plant Herbaceous Angiosperm from the Middle Jurassic of China. Acta Geologica Sinica, 90: 19-29.

L. Kunzmann et al. (2013): Die Innovation von Melbourne: eine fossile Pflanze – ein Name. PDF file, in German. Senckenberg natur forschung museum, 143: 222-229. See also here.

L. Kunzmann et al. (2011): A putative gnetalean gymnosperm Cariria orbiculiconiformis gen. nov. et spec. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of northern Gondwana. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 165: 75–95. See also here.

! E. Kustatscher et al. (2022): A whole-plant specimen of the marine macroalga Pterigophycos from the Eocene of Bolca (Veneto, N-Italy). Open access, Fossil Imprint, 78: 145–156.
Note text-figure 5: Reconstruction drawing of Pterigophycos sp. thallus growing on a rock surface.

Z. Kvacek (2008): Whole-Plant Reconstructions in Fossil Angiosperm Research. Abstract, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 169: 918-927.

Z. Kvacek and L. Hably (2014): The Whole Plant Reconstruction of Banisteriaecarpum giganteum and Byttneriophyllum tiliifolium - A Preliminary Report. In PDF, Folia Musei rerum naturalium Bohemiae occidentalis. Geologica et Paleobiologica, 48.

Jirí Kvacek et al. (2005): A new Late Cretaceous ginkgoalean reproductive structure Nehvizdyella gen. nov. from the Czech Republic and its whole-plant reconstruction. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 92: 1958-1969.

Z. Kvacek (2008): The role of types in palaeobotanical nomenclature. In PDF, Acta Mus. Nat. Pragae, Ser. B, Hist. Nat., 64: 89-96.

D. Li et al. (2022): Leaf scar and petiole anatomy reveal Pecopteris lativenosa Halle is a marattialean fern. In PDF, Geobios, 72–73: 37-53.
See also here.
"... reveal that Pecopteris lativenosa possesses Caulopteris-type stem, stewartiopterid petioles and rachises, and belongs to the Paleozoic Marattiales family Psaroniaceae. ..."

Z.J. Liu et al. (2021): A whole-plant monocot from the Lower Cretaceous. Open access, Palaeoworld, 30: 169-175.

L. Liu et al. (2020): A whole calamitacean plant Palaeostachya guanglongii from the Asselian (Permian) Taiyuan Formation in the Wuda Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, China. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here (in PDF).
Please note the whole plant reconstruction in figure 18.

Z.-J. Liu et al. (2021): A whole-plant monocot from the Lower Cretaceous. Free access, Palaeoworld, 30: 169-175.
Note fig. 5: Reconstruction of Sinoherba ningchengensis, a herbaceous plant composed of a root with fibrous rootlets borne on the nodes, a stem with leaves and axillary branches on the nodes and inflorescences.

! L. Luthardt et al. (2022): Upside-down in volcanic ash: crown reconstruction of the early Permian seed fern Medullosa stellata with attached foliated fronds. Open access, PeerJ, 10: e13051.
"... The upper part of a Medullosa stellata var. typica individual broke at its top resulting from the overload of volcanic ash and was buried upside-down in the basal pyroclastics. The tree crown consists of the anatomically preserved apical stem, ten attached Alethopteris schneideri foliated fronds with Myeloxylon-type petioles and rachises. ..."

S.R. Manchester et al. (2014): Assembling extinct plants from their isolated parts. In PDF.

E. Martinetto and L. Macaluso (2018): Quantitative application of the Whole-Plant Concept to the Messinian – Piacenzian flora of Italy. In PDF, Fossil Imprint, 74: 77–100.

K.K.S. Matsunaga and A.M.F. Tomescu (2017): An organismal concept for Sengelia radicans gen. et sp. nov. – morphology and natural history of an Early Devonian lycophyte. Free access, Annals of Botany, 19: 1097–1113.
Note figure 10: Whole-plant reconstruction of Sengelia radicans.
See also:
Whole-plant reconstruction of an early Devonian lycophyte (Botany One, 2017).

! W.J. Matthaeus et al. (2023): A systems approach to understanding how plants transformed Earth's environment in deep time. Free access, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 51: 551-580.
"... For hundreds of millions of years, plants have been a keystone in maintaining the status of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and climate
[...] Extinct plants have functioned differently across time, limiting our understanding of how processes on Earth interact to produce climate ..."
Note figure 1: Schematic of the trait-based whole-plant functional-strategy approach applied to late Paleozoic extinct plants.
Figure 3: Chart illustrating the Paleo-BGC modeling process (White et al., 2020) from inputs of fossil-inferred plant functional traits and environmental parameters to output.
Figure 5: Temporal distribution of late Paleozoic tropical biomes and atmospheric composition.
Figure 8: Schematic diagram presenting the information used to reconstruct and interpret time-appropriate vegetation-climate interactions.

C. Mays and S. McLoughlin (2019): Caught between mass extinctions - the rise and fall of Dicroidium. In PDF.

S. McLoughlin (2011): Glossopteris - insights into the architecture and relationships of an iconic Permian Gondwanan plant. In PDF, J. Botan. Soc. Bengal 65: 1-14.

Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud and Anne-Laure Decombeix (2007): Palaeobotany: A tree without leaves.

S.V. Naugolnykh (2013): The heterosporous lycopodiophyte Pleuromeia rossica Neuburg, 1960 from the Lower Triassic of the Volga River basin (Russia): organography and reconstruction according to the "Whole-Plant" concept. In PDF, Wulfenia, 20: 1-16.

K.J. Niklas and T. Speck (2001): Evolutionary trends in safety factors against wind-induced stem failure. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 88: 1266-1278.

S. Oplustil (2010): Contribution to knowledge on ontogenetic developmental stages of Lepidodendron mannebachense Presl, 1838. PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences.

Paläontologische Gesellschaft:
Fossil of the Year 2023.
About Medullosa stellata and fronds of the type Alethopteris schneideri. More information from the website in German.

C. Pott et al. (2015): Wielandiella villosa comb. nov. from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, China: More Evidence for Divaricate Plant Architecture in Williamsoniceae. In PDF, Botanica Pacifica, 4.

J. Pšenièka and E.L. Zodrow (2006, starting on PDF page 18 (Sec1:16)): Pennsylvanian fern taxonomy: New approach through the compact model. In PDF, Newsletter on Carboniferous Stratigraphy, 24.

G.J. Retallack (2021): Great moments in plant evolution. In PDF, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 118. See also here.

! G.J. Retallack and D.L. Dilcher (1988): Reconstructions of Selected Seed Ferns. In PDF, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 75: 1010–1057. See also here.
! Note fig. 1: Reconstructions of Stamnostoma huttense.
! Note fig. 3: Reconstructions of Lyrasperma scotia.
! Note fig. 4: Reconstructions of Calathospermum fimbriatum.
! Note fig. 5: Reconstructions of Lagenostoma lomaxii.
! Note fig. 6: Reconstructions of Pachytesta illionensis.
! Note fig. 7: Reconstructions of Callospermanion pusillum.
! Note fig. 8: Reconstructions of Dictyopteridium sporiferum.
! Note fig. 9: Reconstructions of Peltaspermum thomasii, Triassic.
! Note fig. 10: Reconstructions of Umkomasia cranulata, Triassic.
! Note fig. 11: Reconstructions of Caytonia nathorstii.
Excellent!

Gar W. Rothwell, Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens: Angiophytes: Using Whole Plant Concepts to Interpret Angiosperm Origins.
Selected Literature.
Links archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

K. Ruckwied et al. (2015): Palynological records of the Permian Ecca Group (South Africa): Utilizing climatic icehouse-greenhouse signals for cross basin correlations. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 413: 167-172.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

J. Sakala (2004): The "Whole-Plant" concept in palaeobotany with examples from the Tertiary of northwestern Bohemia, Czech Republic with particular reference to fossil wood. PDF file (12.8 MB), Doctoral Thesis.
This expired link is still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here. Further papers included:
Starting on PDF page 17: J. Sakala (2003): Podocarpoxylon helmstedtianum GOTTWALD from Kuklin (Late Eocene, Czech Republic) reinterpreted as Tetraclinoxylon vulcanense PRIVÉ Feddes Repertorium, 114: 25-29.
Starting on PDF page 25: J. Sakala and Catherine Privé-Gill(2004): Oligocene angiosperm woods from Northwestern Bohemia, Czech Republic. IAWA Journal, 25: 369-380.
Starting on PDF page 56: Z. Kvacek and J. Sakala (1999): Twig with attached leaves, fruits and seeds of Decodon (Lythraceae) from the Lower Miocene of northern Bohemia, and implications for the identification of detached leaves and seeds. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 107: 201-222.

G. Shi et al. (2014): Whole-Plant Reconstruction and Phylogenetic Relationships of Elatides zhoui sp. nov. (Cupressaceae) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. In PDF, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 175. See also here.

B.J. Slater et al. (2015): A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Gondwana Research, 27: 1446-1473. See also here (abstract).

! R.A. Spicer (1989): The formation and interpretation of plant fossil assemblages Advances in botanical research (Google books). See also here (abstract).

M.L. Trivett and G.W. Rothwell (1985): Morphology, systematics, and paleoecology of Paleozoic fossil plants: Mesoxylon priapi, sp. nov.(Cordaitales). In PDF, Systematic Botany, 10: 205-223.
See also here.

E. Vassio et al. (2008): Wood anatomy of the Glyptostrobus europaeus "whole-plant" from a Pliocene fossil forest of Italy. Abstract.

J. Wang et al. (2009): Paratingia wudensis sp. nov., a whole noeggerathialean plant preserved in an earliest Permian air fall tuff in Inner Mongolia, China. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 96: 1676–1689.
Note fig. 42: Reconstruction of the small noeggerathialean tuft tree that carries the leaves and strobilus of Paratingia wudensis.

X. Wang and S. Zheng (2010): Whole fossil plants of Ephedra and their implications on the morphology, ecology and evolution of Ephedraceae (Gnetales). In PDF, Chinese Science Bulletin, 55: 1511-1519.
See also here.

X. Wang et al. (2009): The discovery of whole-plant fossil cycad from the Upper Triassic in western Liaoning and its significance. Chinese Science Bulletin, 54: 3116–3119.
See also here. (in PDF).
Also worth checking out: Discovery of an Entire Fossil Cycad from the Late Triassic of China (by Bill Parker, September 07, 2009).

! J.P. Wilson et al. (2020): Carboniferous plant physiology breaks the mold. Free access, New Phytologist.

J.P. Wilson et al. (2017): Dynamic carboniferous tropical forests: new views of plant function and potential for physiological forcing of climate. Free access, New Phytologist, 215: 1333–1353.

C.H. Woolley et al. (2024): Quantifying the effects of exceptional fossil preservation on the global availability of phylogenetic data in deep time: Open access, PLoS ONE, 19. e0297637. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297637.
"... we quantify the amount of phylogenetic information available in the global fossil records of 1,327 species of non-avian theropod dinosaurs, Mesozoic birds, and fossil squamates [...] and then compare the influence of lagerstätten deposits on phylogenetic information content and taxon selection in phylogenetic analyses to other fossil-bearing deposits ..."