 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Paleobotany" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Part of a series on |
| Paleontology |
|---|
 |
Paleobotany orpalaeobotany, also known aspaleophytology, is the branch ofbotany dealing with the recovery and identification ofplantfossils fromgeological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeography), and theevolutionary history of plants, with a bearing upon theevolution of life in general. It is a component ofpaleontology andpaleobiology. The prefixpalaeo- orpaleo- means "ancient, old",[1] and is derived from theGreek adjectiveπαλαιός,palaios.[2] Paleobotany includes the study ofland plants, as well as the study ofprehistoric marinephotoautotrophs such asphotosyntheticalgae,seaweeds orkelp. A closely related field ispalynology, which is the study of fossilized andextantspores andpollen.
Paleobotany is important in the reconstruction of ancientecological andclimate systems, known aspaleoecology andpaleoclimatology respectively. It is fundamental to the study of green plantdevelopment andevolution. Paleobotany is a historical science much like its adjacent, paleontology. Because of the understanding that paleobotany gives to archeologists, it has become important to the field ofarchaeology as a whole. primarily for the use ofphytoliths inrelative dating and inpaleoethnobotany.[3]
The study and discipline of paleobotany have been recognised as far back as the 19th century. Known as the "Father of Palaeobotany", French botanistAdolphe-Théodore Brongniart was a significant figure in the emergence of paleobotany, known for his work on the relationship between the living and extinct plant life. This work not only progressed paleobotany but also the understanding of the Earth and its longevity in actuality and theorganic matter that existed over the Earth's timeline. Paleobotany also succeeded in the hands of German paleontologistErnst Friedrich von Schlothiem, and Czech nobleman and scholar,Kaspar Maria von Sternberg.[4][5]
As paleobotany is the specification of fossilizedplant life and the environment in which they thrived in,paleoecology is the study of all once-livingorganisms and the interactions held in the environments they once existed in, before becomingextinct.[6]
Paleoecology is a similar study to that ofpaleontology, but paleoecology uses moremethodology from thebiological sciences andgeological sciences[7] rather than from ananthropological standpoint as paleontologists do.
Paleopalynology, more commonly known aspalynology, is the science and study of ancient palynomorphs: particles sized between 5 and 500 micrometers.[8] This would be an inclusion ofpollen andspores and any other micro-organic matter. Paleopalynology is simply paleobotany on a much smaller scale, the two in close association with each other.
Similar to paleobotany, we can tell a great deal of information about the environment andbiome at the time theseparticles existed prehistorically. These particles also help geologists identify and date therock strata ofsedimentary rocks. It is also used to find natural oils andgas within these rock layers forextraction.[9] Besides uncovering documentation of our past environmental conditions, palynology can also tell us about animal diets, historical standings of humanallergies, and reveal evidence in crime cases.[citation needed]
Macroscopic remains of truevascular plants are first found in the fossil record during theSilurian Period of thePaleozoic era. Some dispersed, fragmentary fossils of disputed affinity, primarily spores andcuticles, have been found in rocks from theOrdovician Period inOman, and are thought to derive fromliverwort- ormoss-grade fossil plants.[10]
An important early land plant fossil locality is theRhynie chert, found outside the village ofRhynie inScotland. The Rhynie chert is an EarlyDevonian sinter (hot spring) deposit composed primarily ofsilica. It is exceptional due to its preservation of several differentclades of plants, from mosses andlycophytes to more unusual, problematic forms. Many fossil animals, includingarthropods andarachnids, are also found in the Rhynie chert, and it offers a unique window into the history of early terrestrial life.
Plant-derived macrofossils become abundant in the Late Devonian includingtree trunks,fronds, androots. The earliest tree was once thought to beArchaeopteris, which bears simple,fern-likeleaves spirally arranged on branches atop aconifer-liketrunk,[11] although it is now known to be the recently discoveredWattieza.[12]
Widespreadcoal swamp deposits across North America and Europe during theCarboniferous Period contain a wealth of fossils containingarborescent lycopods up to 30 m tall, abundantseed plants, such as conifers andseed ferns, and countless smaller,herbaceous plants.
Angiosperms (flowering plants) evolved during theMesozoic, and flowering plant pollen and leaves first appeared during the EarlyCretaceous, approximately 130 million years ago.
 | This section includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this section byintroducing more precise citations.(May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
A plant fossil is any preserved part of a plant that has long since died. Such fossils may be prehistoric impressions that are many millions of years old, or bits ofcharcoal that are only a few hundred years old. Prehistoric plants are various groups of plants that lived before recordedhistory (before about3500 BC).
Plant fossils can be preserved in a variety of ways, each of which can give different types of information about the original parent plant. These modes of preservation may be summarised in a paleobotanical context as follows.
Plant fossils almost always represent disarticulated parts of plants; even small herbaceous plants are rarely preserved whole. The few examples of plant fossils that appear to be the remains of whole plants are in fact incomplete as the internal cellular tissue and fine micromorphological detail is normally lost during fossilization. Plant remains can be preserved in a variety of ways, each revealing different features of the original parent plant.[13]
Because of this, paleobotanists usually assign different taxonomic names to different parts of the plant in different modes of preservation. For instance, in the subarborescent Palaeozoicsphenophytes, an impression of a leaf might be assigned to the genusAnnularia, a compression of a cone assigned toPalaeostachya, and the stem assigned to eitherCalamites orArthroxylon depending on whether it is preserved as a cast or a petrifaction. All of these fossils may have originated from the same parent plant but they are each given their own taxonomic name. This approach to naming plant fossils originated with the work ofAdolphe-Théodore Brongniart.[14]
For many years this approach to naming plant fossils was accepted by paleobotanists but not formalised within theInternational Rules of Botanical Nomenclature.[15] Eventually,Thomas (1935) andJongmans, Halle & Gothan (1935) proposed a set of formal provisions, the essence of which was introduced into the 1952International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.[16] These early provisions allowed fossils representing particular parts of plants in a particular state of preservation to be placed in organ-genera. In addition, a small subset of organ-genera, to be known as form-genera, were recognised based on the artificial taxa introduced by Brongniart mainly for foliage fossils. The concepts and regulations surrounding organ- and form-genera were modified within successive codes of nomenclature, reflecting a failure of the paleobotanical community to agree on how this aspect of plant taxonomic nomenclature should work (a history reviewed by Cleal and Thomas in 2020[17]). The use of organ- and fossil-genera was abandoned with theSt Louis Code, and replaced by "morphotaxa".[18]
The situation in theVienna Code of 2005 was that any plant taxon whose type is a fossil, exceptdiatoms, can be described as amorphotaxon, a particular part of a plant preserved in a particular way.[19] Although the name is always fixed to the type specimen, the circumscription (i.e. range of specimens that may be included within the taxon) is defined by the taxonomist who uses the name. Such a change in circumscription could result in an expansion of the range of plant parts or preservation states that could be incorporated within the taxon. For instance, a fossil-genus originally based on compressions of ovules could be used to include the multi-ovulate cupules within which the ovules were originally borne. A complication can arise if, in this case, there was an already named fossil-genus for these cupules. If paleobotanists were confident that the type of the ovule fossil-genus and of the cupule fossil-genus could be included in the same genus, then the two names would compete as to being the correct one for the newly emended genus. In general, there would be competing priority whenever plant parts that had been given different names were discovered to belong to the same species. It appeared that morphotaxa offered no real advantage to paleobotanists over normal fossil-taxa and the concept was abandoned with the 2011 botanical congress and the 2012International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
Some plants have remained almost unchanged throughout earth's geological time scale.Horsetails had evolved by the Late Devonian,[20] early ferns had evolved by theMississippian,conifers by thePennsylvanian. Some plants of prehistory are the same ones around today and are thusliving fossils, such asGinkgo biloba andSciadopitys verticillata. Other plants have changed radically, or became extinct.
Examples of prehistoric plants are:
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Subdisciplines | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant groups | |||||||||||
| Plant anatomy |
| ||||||||||
| Plant physiology Materials | |||||||||||
| Plant growth and habit | |||||||||||
| Reproduction | |||||||||||
| Plant taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Practice | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
