Links for Palaeobotanists 1

An annotated collection of pointers to information on palaeobotany
or to WWW resources which may be of use to palaeobotanists (with an Upper Triassic bias).

D. Frank et al. (2022): Dendrochronology: Fundamentals and innovations. PDF file, in R. T. W. Siegwolf, J. R. Brooks, J. Roden, & M. Saurer (Eds.), Stable isotopes in tree rings: Inferring physiological, climatic and environmental responses (pp. 21�59). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92698-4_2.
See likewise here.

NC State University Libraries and the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA:
! InsideWood.
The InsideWood project integrates wood anatomical information from the literature and original observations into an internet-accessible database useful for research and teaching.

! A.C. Wiedenhoeft and R.B. Miller (2005):
Structure and function of wood. PDF file,in: Rowell, R.M. (Ed.), Handbook of Wood Chemistry and Wood Composites. CRC Press, pp. 9�33. See here as well.

P. Huang et al. (2025): The smallest Zosterophyllum plant from the Lower Devonian of South China and the divergent life-history strategies in zosterophyllopsids. Open access, Proc. R. Soc. B, 292.
Note figure 2: Diversity and morphology of Zosterophyllum species through the late Silurian to Early Devonian.
! Figure 4: Artist�s restoration of part of the Early Devonian Mangshan flora, with plant communities of Zosterophyllum baoyangense sp. nov. at the front, and Teyoua antrorsa, Zosterophyllum australianum and an unnamed zosterophyllopsid to the back.

! J.W. Clark (2025): Assembling the picture of stomatal evolution. Free accesss, New Phytologist, 245: 6-8.
Note figure 1: Predicted distribution of stomata on the gametophyte and sporophyte generation across land plants, assuming that Hornwort Gametophytic Pores (HGPs) are homologous to stomata.
"... The origin of plants from an algal ancestor involved a suite of innovations that facilitated the process of terrestrialisation and characterised most plants today ,,,"

OpenStax (one of the world�s largest publisher of open education resources):
! OpenStax's Introduction to Statistics. In PDF.
This introduction to Statistics is a comprehensive, free textbook designed for a one-semester introductory statistics course.

N. Aggarwal et al. (2025): Unraveling the Charred Past: Microscopic Insights and Advanced Techniques in Understanding Permian Palaeofires. Free access, ACS Omega, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c08281.
"... This study conducts a comprehensive palynofacies and geochemical analysis to characterize organic matter (OM) in shale samples
[...] The present investigation helps to explore the difference between the origins (in situ vs ex situ) of the charcoal generated due to the oxidation or palaeofire activity ..."

! K.L. Hertweck et al. (2015): Phylogenetics, divergence times and diversification from three genomic partitions in monocots. In PDF, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 178: 375-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12260. See also here.
"... We also estimated divergence times in monocots by applying newly evaluated fossil calibrations to our resolved phylogenetic tree. Inclusion of early-diverging angiosperm lineages confirmed the origin of extant monocots c. 131 Mya and strengthened the hypothesis of recent divergence times for some lineages ..."

Zlata Sojková and Jozef Palkovic, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovak republic:
Introduction To Statistics. Lecture notes, Powerpoint presentation.
This expired link is still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Open Learning Initiative (OLI), Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Open & Free Courses (no instructors, no credits, no charge):
Statistics. This lectures introduces the basic concepts, logic, and issues involved in statistical reasoning.
Topics include xploratory Data Analysis, Producing Data and Study Design, Probability and Statistical Inference.
Website outdated. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! K. Feldberg et al. (2025): Extending the fossil record of Miocene neotropical epiphyte communities. In PDF, Fossil Record, 28: 79�102. See here as well.
"... Dominican amber (15�20 Ma) and Mexican amber (15�23 Ma) are valuable sources of fossil epiphytic bryophytes, ferns, and lichens
[...] In this study, we extend the fossil record of these communities ..."

! A.C. Scott (2024): Fire in the Carboniferous earth system. Free access, Evolving Earth, 2.
Note figure 2: The evolution of vegetation through the Carboniferous linked to atmospheric oxygen levels and periods of glaciation.
! Figure 9: Upright sandstone filled trunks showing charcoal in their base.
! Figure 10: Model for the formation of sandstone filled Sigillarian trunks with charcoal and tetrapods in their base.

M. Stuhr et al. (2025): Seagrass-rafted large benthic foraminifera transported into the deep Red Sea. In PDF, Scientific Reports, 15. See likewise here.
"... This indicates a passive transport process by rafting attached to floating macrophytes to these off-platform settings. The abundant seagrass and oceanographic conditions along the Arabian Peninsula may facilitate the transport of epiphytes and associated taxa offshore. Such long-distance transport mechanisms could further contribute to the rapid (co-)dispersal of some of these organisms into new habitats ..."

PaleoBios
PaleoBios is an open-access peer-reviewed journal produced by the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP).

! V. Vajda and A. Bercovici (2014): The global vegetation pattern across the Cretaceous�Paleogene mass extinction interval: a template for other extinction events. Free access, Global and Planetary Change, 122: 29-49.
Note figure 3: Paleogeographic map 66 Ma.
"... The Cretaceous�Paleogene boundary clay, associated with the Chicxulub asteroid impact event, constitutes a unique, global marker bed enabling comparison of the world-wide palynological signal spanning the mass extinction event. The data from both hemispheres are consistent
[...] we recommend using the K�Pg event as a model and to use relative abundance data for the stratigraphic definition of mass-extinction events and the placement of associated chronostratigraphic boundaries ..."

D.B. Mills et al. (2025): The Rise of Algae promoted eukaryote predation in the Neoproterozoic benthos. Free access, Sci. Adv., 11.
Note figure 4: he evolution of benthic food webs from the mid- to late-Proterozoic Eon.
"... our findings suggest that algal biomass exported to the Neoproterozoic benthos stimulated the ecology of benthic predatory protists under anoxia, thereby creating more modern food webs by enhancing the transfer of fixed carbon and energy to eukaryotes occupying higher trophic levels, including the earliest benthic metazoans ..."