An Introduction to Plant Fossils
by Christopher J. Cleal , Barry A. ThomasEdition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2009-10-30
Publisher(s): Cambridge University Press
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Summary
This book provides an excellent practical introduction to the study of plant fossils, and is written for those who have had little previous experience of this type of palaeontology. The text summarizes the groups of plants occurring as fossils and describes how best to investigate them. It explains modern research techniques that reveal details of anatomical and reproductive characteristics, and the features for identifying commonly found plant fossils. The approaches for interpreting these fossils are assessed, and the book highlights how such methods are employed by palaeobotanists to increase our knowledge of plant evolution, palaeoecology, palaeogeography and stratigraphy. The book discusses how the science of palaeobotany has developed over the last 300 years, with examples and illustrations from a global range of plant groups. It is valuable for students on introductory or intermediate courses in palaeobotany, palaeontology and plant evolution, and for amateurs looking for help in studying plant fossils.
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| What is a plant? | p. l |
| How do plant fragments get into the fossil record? | p. 2 |
| Types of plant fossil | p. 3 |
| Where are plant fossils found? | p. 7 |
| Bias in the fossil record | p. 10 |
| Why do we study plant fossils? | p. 12 |
| Recommended reading | p. 13 |
| Highlights of palaeobotanical study | p. 14 |
| The beginnings of palaeobotany | p. 14 |
| The importance of coal | p. 16 |
| Anatomical studies | p. 20 |
| Coal balls | p. 21 |
| Coal petrology and palynology | p. 23 |
| The Glossopteris flora and continental drift | p. 25 |
| Early land plants | p. 28 |
| The age of cycads | p. 29 |
| Flowering plants | p. 33 |
| The future for palaeobotany | p. 35 |
| Recommended reading | p. 37 |
| Studying plant fossils | p. 38 |
| Morphology of adpressions | p. 38 |
| Macrophotography | p. 38 |
| Transfers | p. 39 |
| Cuticles and epidermal structures | p. 40 |
| Extracting in situ pollen and spores | p. 41 |
| Dispersed pollen and spores | p. 42 |
| Three-dimensionally preserved plant fossils | p. 42 |
| Prepared casts | p. 42 |
| Sectioning anatomically preserved fossils | p. 44 |
| Reconstructing whole fossil plants | p. 46 |
| Naming plant fossils | p. 46 |
| Phylogenetic analysis | p. 49 |
| BiostraLigraphy and palaeobiogeography | p. 49 |
| Curation | p. 52 |
| Site conservation | p. 52 |
| Recommended reading | p. 54 |
| Early land plants | p. 55 |
| Alternating generations | p. 55 |
| Adapting to life on land | p. 57 |
| Cryptospores and the earliest land plants | p. 59 |
| The first vascular plants | p. 59 |
| The Rhynie Chert flora | p. 63 |
| Zosterophyils | p. 64 |
| Trimerophytes | p. 66 |
| Progymnosperms | p. 67 |
| Recommended reading | p. 71 |
| Lycophytes | p. 72 |
| The earliest herbaceous lycophytes | p. 72 |
| The beginnings of modern herbaceous lycophytes | p. 77 |
| Increase in size and arborescence | p. 79 |
| Cuticles and paper coal | p. 85 |
| Rooting structures | p. 86 |
| Reproduction | p. 88 |
| After the giants | p. 90 |
| Recommended reading | p. 92 |
| Sphenophytes | p. 93 |
| Origin and systematic position of the sphenophytes | p. 93 |
| Pseudoborniales | p. 94 |
| Sphenophyllales | p. 96 |
| Archaeocalamitaceae | p. 97 |
| Calamostachyaceae | p. 99 |
| Gondwana sphenophytes | p. 104 |
| Modern sphenophytes | p. 104 |
| Recommended reading | p. 105 |
| Ferns | p. 106 |
| The first ferns | p. 109 |
| Modern ferns | p. 109 |
| Marattiales | p. 110 |
| Other Late Palaeozoic ferns | p. 113 |
| Ophioglossales | p. 114 |
| Filicalean ferns | p. 115 |
| Osmundaceae | p. 115 |
| Schizaeaceae | p. 120 |
| Gleicheniaceae | p. 121 |
| Matoniaceae | p. 122 |
| Dipteridaceae | p. 122 |
| Dicksoniaceae and Cyathaceae | p. 125 |
| Polypodiaceous ferns | p. 127 |
| Tempskya | p. 130 |
| Heterosporous ferns | p. 131 |
| Recommended reading | p. 134 |
| Early gymnosperms | p. 135 |
| What are ovules and seeds? | p. 135 |
| Gymnosperm reproducrion | p. 136 |
| What plants did gymnosperms evolve from? | p. 137 |
| The pteridosperms | p. 138 |
| Lyginopteridales | p. 139 |
| Medullosales | p. 142 |
| Callistophytales | p. 147 |
| Peltasperms | p. 149 |
| Glossopterids | p. 150 |
| Cordaites | p. 153 |
| Recommended reading | p. 156 |
| Modern gymnosperms | p. 157 |
| Early conifers | p. 157 |
| Modern conifers | p. 163 |
| Ginkgoales | p. 165 |
| Cycads | p. 166 |
| Bennettitales | p. 172 |
| Caytoniales | p. 174 |
| Other gymnosperm groups | p. 175 |
| Gnetales | p. 175 |
| Recommended reading | p. 177 |
| Angiosperms | p. 178 |
| What makes an angiosperm? | p. 178 |
| Wood | p. 180 |
| Ancestors of the angiosperms | p. 181 |
| The earliest angiosperms | p. 184 |
| Cretaceous angiosperms | p. 186 |
| Wind pollinated angiosperms | p. 192 |
| The rise of the monocotyledons | p. 192 |
| Cenozoic angiosperms | p. 195 |
| Recommended reading | p. 202 |
| The history of land vegetation | p. 203 |
| Silurian Period (416-443 Ma) | p. 203 |
| Devonian Period (359-416 Ma) | p. 203 |
| Carboniferous Period (299-359 Ma) | p. 204 |
| Permian Period (251-299 Ma) | p. 208 |
| Permian/Trias sic (P/T) Extinction Event | p. 209 |
| Triassic Period (200-251 Ma) | p. 209 |
| Jurassic Period (146-200 Ma) | p. 211 |
| Cretaceous Period (66-146 Ma) | p. 212 |
| Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) Extinction Event | p. 214 |
| Palaeogene and Neogene Periods (1.8-67 Ma) | p. 215 |
| Quaternary Period (1.8 Ma to present) | p. 217 |
| Recommended reading | p. 220 |
| References | p. 221 |
| Index | p. 230 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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