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).

! J.M. Galloway and S. Lindström (2023): Impacts of large-scale magmatism on land plant ecosystems. Open access, Elements, 19: 289�295.
! Note figure 1: Summary figure of changes in the diversity of land plants over geological time.
Figure 2: Flow chart showing the myriad of ways large-scale magmatism may impact land plants.
"... Emplacement of large igneous provinces (LIPs) is implicated in almost every mass extinction and smaller biotic crises in Earth�s history, but the effects of these and other large-scale magmatic events on terrestrial ecosystems are poorly understood
[...] We review existing palynological literature to explore the direct and cumulative impacts of large-scale magmatism, such as LIP-forming events, on terrestrial vegetation composition and dynamics over geological time ..."

M. Coiro et al. (2024): Parallel evolution of angiosperm-like venation in Peltaspermales: a reinvestigation of Furcula. Open access, New Phytologist, doi: 10.1111/nph.19726.
"... Although a hierarchical-reticulate venation also occurs in some groups of extinct seed plants, it is unclear whether these are stem relatives of angiosperms
[...] We further suggest that the evolution of hierarchical venation systems in the early Permian, the Late Triassic, and the Early Cretaceous represent �natural experiments� that might help resolve the selective pressures enabling this trait to evolve ..."

! T.O. Akinsanpe et al. (2024): Molecular and mineral biomarker record of terrestrialization in the Rhynie Chert. Free access, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 640.
"... a wealth of fossil evidence is preserved in the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert lagerstätte, which is consequently considered to be the world's oldest preserved terrestrial ecosystem
[...] In addition to organic biomarkers, the chert contains mineralogical characters which imply biological activity, including pyrite framboids, strongly leached monazite and garnet, and pitted micas similar to grains altered by modern fungi.

S. Salzman et al. (2024): New insights on cycad biology and evolution. In PDF. See likewise here.
"... we present the most recent advances in cycad research on land plant evolution, the evolution and mechanisms of insect pollination and herbivory, the biochemical basis of symbiosis, microbial symbionts, and plant genomics ..."

Mesozoic (Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand).
Mesozoic (free online access) is an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the study of Earth and life evolution during the Mesozoic Era.

J. Carrion et al. (2024): Greening a lost world: Paleoartistic investigations of the early Pleistocene vegetation landscape in the first Europeans� homeland. Free access, Quaternary Science Advances, 14.
"... we present paleoartistic renderings depicting vegetation landscapes around the Orce Archaeological Zone (OAZ), encompassing sites dating from 1.6 to 1.2 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene
[...] This essay visually represents the coexistence of mesophytic, thermophytic, and xerophytic plant communities within a glacial refugium of woody species ..."

! D. Jablonski and S.M. Edie (2023): Perfect storms shape biodiversity in time and space. Free access, Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, 2.
"... Many of the most dramatic patterns in biological diversity are created by �Perfect Storms� �rare combinations of mutually reinforcing factors that push origination, extinction, or diversity accommodation to extremes
[...] The Perfect Storms perspective may allow more nuanced and specific applications of our characterization of past events to the present day, even if today�s combination of pressures is in some ways unprecedented ..."

B. Sterner (2023): Norms of evidence in the classification of living fossils. In PDF, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11: 1198224. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1198224. See also here.
"... Some species have held fast for millions of years as constants in a changing world. Often called �living fossils,� these species capture sci See also entific and public interest by showing us the vestiges of an earlier world.
[...] While debates over the definition of the living fossil concept may appear fruitless, I&xnbsp;suggest they can be&xnbsp;productive insofar as the debate leads to clarified and improved evidential standards for classification ..."

I. Werneburg and M. Böhme (2018): The Palaeontologial Collection of Tübingen. In PDF. Note also here.
In L.A. Beck, U. Joger (eds.), Paleontological Collections of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Natural History Collection. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77401-5_52. Worth checking out:
Table of contents (57 chapters).

D. Dimitrov et al. (2023): Diversification of flowering plants in space and time. Free access, Nature Communications, 14.
"... Using a newly generated genus-level phylogeny and global distribution data for 14,244 flowering plant genera, we describe the diversification dynamics of angiosperms through space and time. Our analyses show that diversification rates increased throughout the early Cretaceous and then slightly decreased or remained mostly stable until the end of the Cretaceous�Paleogene mass extinction event 66 million years ago. After that, diversification rates increased again towards the present ..."

L. Azevedo-Schmidt et al. (2024): Ferns as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval. Open access, BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae022.
! Note figure 1: Time-calibrated fern phylogeny [shows additionally major extinction events with and without fern spike].
See also here.
"... The competitive success of ferns has been foundational to hypotheses about terrestrial recolonization following biotic upheaval, from wildfires to the Cretaceous�Paleogene asteroid impact (66 million years ago). Rapid fern recolonization in primary successional environments has been hypothesized to be driven by ferns� high spore production and wind dispersal
[...] We propose that a competition-based view of ferns is outdated and in need of reexamination ..."

I. Vilovic et al. (2023): Variations in climate habitability parameters and their effect on Earth's biosphere during the Phanerozoic Eon. Open access, Scientific Reports, 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39716-z
Note figure 5: Phanerozoic biodiversity curves.
"... We compiled environmental and biological properties of the Phanerozoic Eon from various published data sets and conducted a correlation analysis to assess variations in parameters relevant to the habitability of Earth�s biosphere
We showed that there were several periods with a highly thriving biosphere, with one even surpassing present day biodiversity and biomass. Those periods were characterized by increased oxygen levels and global runoff rates ..."