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).

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.

! R.V. Tyson (1993): Palynofacies analysis. In PDF, Applied micropalaeontology, chapter 5, p. 153-191.
See here as well.

! K.A. Holt and K.D. Bennett (2014): Principles and methods for automated palynology. Free access, New Phytologist, 203. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12848.
"... In this paper, we provide the first review in over 15 yr of progress towards automation of the part of palynology concerned with counting and classifying pollen ..."

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 ..."

PC MAG (belongs to the trademark of Ziff Davis):
! Perplexity Launches a Free 'Deep Research' AI Tool.
By Jibin Joseph, February 17, 2025.
"... Perplexity�s Deep Research tool can fetch information from hundreds of sources �to autonomously deliver a comprehensive report ..."

S. Bengtson (2000): Teasing Fossils out of Shales with Cameras and Computers. Palaeontologia Electronica, 3.
"... Simple yet effective methods are available (using Adobe Photoshop) to enhance photographic images of low-contrast and low-relief specimens, such as fossils in shales, without manipulating or retouching the photographs. By applying polarizing filters to camera and light-source(s) in a way analogous to crossing nicols in a petrographic microscope, dramatic results can be achieved where there is a difference in reflectance between fossil and matrix, as with many coalified fossils ..." Excellent!

Y. Xu etv al. (2024): Revision of Sagenopteris (Caytoniales): a major lineage of the Mesozoic seed plants. Open access, Papers in Palaeontology, 10.
Note figure 3: Reconstructions of Sagenopteris acuminata illustrating its morphological variation through developmental (seasonal) series.
"... Temporo-spatial analysis of Sagenopteris suggests it originated in the European (palaeo-subtropical) region by the Anisian (Middle Triassic) and underwent significant range expansion during the Late Triassic. Surviving the end-Triassic mass extinction, Sagenopteris quickly became one of the dominant gymnosperms in the aftermath of the biotic crisis
[...] The youngest occurrences of Sagenopteris, globally, are from Cenomanian�Campanian assemblages ..."

Z.J. Quirk et al. (2024): Where did they come from, where did they go? Niche conservatism in woody and herbaceous plants and implications for plant-based paleoclimatic reconstructions. Open access, Am J Bot., 111:e16426.
Note figure 3: Precipitation and surface temperature plots from geologic time periods (A�D) middle Miocene, (E�H) early Eocene, and (I�L) Cretaceous.
"... We tested climatic niche conservatism across time by characterizing the climatic niches of living herbaceous ginger plants (Zingiberaceae) and woody dawn redwood (Metasequoia)
[...] Because of the inconsistent climatic niches of Zingiberaceae over geologic time, we are less confident of using them for taxonomic-based paleoclimatic reconstruction methods [...] we argue that the consistent climatic niche of Metasequoia is more appropriate for these reconstructions. Niche conservatism cannot be assumed between extant and extinct plants and should be tested further ..."

Mathpolate:
Graph Paper Generator.
Free graph paper maker tools to make your own custom grid and graph paper printable. Generate lined pages, grid page, graph papers, dotted grid, isometric grid, hexagon grid and many more.

! I.J. Glasspool and R.A. Gastaldo (2024): Don't mind the �charcoal gap�: A reassessment of Devonian wildfire. Open access, Geology, 42: 846�850.
! Note figure 1: Global records of Silurian�Devonian fire.
"... We conclude there is ample evidence of fire in the Middle Devonian. This interval is not innately of low pO₂.
[...] we propose that pO₂ achieved levels >16% and remained at such levels from the Silurian through the floral and faunal colonization of land and, from our current estimates, stayed as such until the present ..."

! D. Uhl et al. (2024): Deep-time maar lakes and other volcanogenic lakes as Fossil-Lagerstätten�An overview. In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104: 763�848. See here as well.
"... Maar lakes and other volcanogenic Konservat-Lagerstätten occur in a large number of volcanically active regions worldwide, although older deposits are often difficult to access as they are more likely to be eroded or covered by younger deposits.
[...] Although currently some of these deposits have at least some kind of legal protection as monuments of natural heritage, others remain in danger of being exploited commercially for natural resources and hence, ultimately destroyed ..."

G.R. Shi and J.B. Waterhouse (2010): Late Palaeozoic global changes affecting high-latitude environments and biotas: an introduction. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 298: 1-16. See here as well.
Note figure 4 (A)�(C): Palaeogeographic evolution of the world from early Carboniferous to Late Permian.
"... This introductory paper is designed to provide a global context for the special issue, with a brief review of key late Palaeozoic global environmental changes (including: changes in global land-sea configurations, atmospheric chemistry, global climate regimes, global ocean circulation patterns and sea levels) and largescale biotic (biogeographic and evolutionary) responses, followed by a summary of what we see as unresolved scientific issues ..."

S. Lidgard and E. Kitchen (2023): Revealing the rise of a living fossil menagerie. Free access, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11:1112764. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1112764.
"... In this paper we attempt the first comprehensive analysis of the use of the term �living fossil� from 1860 to the present
[...] We argue that the demonstrated persistence, ever-expanding scientific and public interest, and future utilization of living fossils reflects increasingly complex challenges to deepseated expectations at the heart of a living fossil research agenda: omnipresent evolutionary change and inevitable disappearance or extinction ..."

L.A. Giraldo et al. (2024): Fossil insect-feeding traces indicate unrecognized evolutionary history and biodiversity on Australia's iconic Eucalyptus. Free access, New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20316.
"... We studied the insect herbivore damage found on 284 Eucalyptus frenguelliana leaves from the early Eocene Laguna del Hunco rainforest locality in Argentinean Patagonia and compared damage patterns with those observed on extant, rainforest-associated Eucalyptus species from Australasia
[...] The finding of all the fossil damage types on extant Eucalyptus specimens suggests long-standing associations between multiple insect herbivore lineages and their host genus spanning 52 million years across the Southern Hemisphere ..."

Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison:
Plant Systematics Collection. This web site provides structured access to a teaching collection of plant images representing over 250 families and 1000 genera of vascular plants. Go to:
Lycophyta. Lycopodiaceae, Selaginellaceae, Isoetaceae.

H. Hashemi et al. (2024): New Odonatan oviposition ichnotaxa from the Lower Jurassic of Iran Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, 143. See here as well.
"... Distinct, new oviposition lesion types, Paleoovoidus pyriformis ichnosp. nov. and Variomorphonotatus sagittaeformis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., occurring on two fossil compression Cycadophyte leaves from the Lower Jurassic Shemshak Formation of western Alborz Ranges, northern Iran are documented
[...] the ichnotaxa documented herein offer unequivocal evidence to the presence of the Odonatan representatives in the Early Jurassic riparian ecosystems of northern Iran ..."

! American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).
The ASBA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of contemporary botanical art, to honoring its traditions, and to furthering its development. Worth checking out: Member Gallery.