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The fossil history of plant life in Antarctica is central to our understanding of the evolution of vegetation through geological time and also plays a key role in reconstructing past configurations of the continents and associated climatic conditions. This book provides the only detailed overview of the development of Antarctic vegetation from the Devonian period to the present day, presenting Earth scientists with valuable insights into the break up of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. Details of specific floras and ecosystems are provided within the context of changing geological, geographical and environmental conditions, alongside comparisons with contemporaneous and modern ecosystems. The authors demonstrate how palaeobotany contributes to our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental changes in the southern hemisphere during this period of Earth history. The book is a complete and up-to-date reference for researchers and students in Antarctic palaeobotany and terrestrial palaeoecology.

The growth of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) during the Cenozoic drove dramatic climate and environmental change in this region. However, there has been limited comprehensive research into evolution of climate during this interval. Here we present a quantitative reconstruction using Bioclimatic Analysis (BA) and Joint Probability Density Functions (JPDFs) based on data available for 48 fossil floras, including macrofossils and palynological fossils collected in the QTP area from the Paleogene to Neogene (66–2.58 Ma). Both methods indicate that there was an overall decline in temperature and precipitation. Paleoclimatic simulations using Hadley Centre Coupled Model version3 (HadCM3) show that the most prominent climate change was very likely driven by QTP orographic evolution from the late Eocene, which was accompanied by a shift in temperature from a latitudinal distribution to a topographically controlled pattern. In addition, with the growth of the QTP, temperature and precipitation decreased gradually in the northeastern part of the plateau. Different sources of evidence, including plant fossil records, climate simulations and other proxies, indicate that the topographic evolution of the QTP and other geological events, in conjunction with global cooling, may have been the main factors driving climate change in this region. This research can provide insights into Cenozoic environmental change and ecosystem evolution.

Paleontology yields essential evidence for inferring not only the pattern of evolution, but also the genetic basis of evolution within an ontogenetic framework. Plant fossils provide evidence for the pattern of plant evolution in the form of transformational series of structure through time. Developmentally diagnostic structural features that serve as “fingerprints” of regulatory genetic pathways also are preserved by plant fossils, and here we provide examples of how those fingerprints can be used to infer the mechanisms by which plant form and development have evolved. When coupled with an understanding of variations and systematic distributions of specific regulatory genetic pathways, this approach provides an avenue for testing evolutionary hypotheses at the organismal level that is analogous to employing bioinformatics to explore genetics at the genomic level. The positions where specific genes, gene families, and developmental regulatory mechanisms first appear in phylogenies are correlated with the positions where fossils with the corresponding structures occur on the tree, thereby yielding testable hypotheses that extend our understanding of the role of developmental changes in the evolution of the body plans of vascular plant sporophytes. As a result, we now have new and powerful methodologies for characterizing major evolutionary changes in morphology, anatomy, and physiology that have resulted from combinations of genetic regulatory changes and that have produced the synapomorphies by which we recognize major clades of plants.

Fossilized plant remains have been studied simultaneously by laser induced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopies, to reveal the prospective methods for onsite or/and laser remote sensing in future extraterrestrial missions. A multiwavelength instrument, capable of fluorescence and Raman measurements, has been utilized for the study of isolated plant fossils, as well as fossils associated with sedimentary rocks. Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that plant fossils and rocks’ luminosity differed significantly due to chlorophyll derivatives (chlorin, porphyrins, lignin components etc.); therefore, fossilized plants can be easily detected at rock surfaces onsite. Raman spectroscopy highly altered the fossilized graphitic material via the carbon D and G bands. Our results demonstrated that combined laser-induced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy measurements can provide new insights into the detection of samples with biogenicity indicators such as chlorophyll and its derivatives, as well as kerogenous materials. The prospects of multiwavelength LIDAR instrument studies under fieldwork conditions are discussed for fossils diagnostics. The method of laser remote sensing can be useful in geological exploration in the search for oil, coal-bearing rocks, and rocks with a high content of organic matter.

Recent advances in sequencing technologies now permit the analyses of plant DNA from fossil samples (ancient plant DNA, plant aDNA), and thus enable the molecular reconstruction of palaeofloras.Hitherto, ancient frozen soils have proved excellent in preservingDNAmolecules, and have thus been the most commonly used source of plant aDNA. However, DNA from soil mainly represents taxa growing a fewmetres fromthe sampling point. Lakes have larger catchment areas and recent studies have suggested that plant aDNAfromlake sediments is a more powerful tool for palaeofloristic reconstruction. Furthermore, lakes can be found globally in nearly all environments, and are therefore not limited to perennially frozen areas. Here,we review the latest approaches and methods for the study of plant aDNA from lake sediments and discuss the progressmade up to the present.Weargue that aDNAanalyses add newand additional perspectives for the study of ancient plant populations and, in time, will provide higher taxonomic resolution and more precise estimation of abundance. Despite this, key questions and challenges remain for such plant aDNA studies. Finally, we provide guidelines on technical issues, including lake selection, and we suggest directions for future research on plant aDNA studies in lake sediments.

Despite the existence of a rich record, fossils of Carex have been largely neglected by neobotanists. Here we present an exhaustive critically commented checklist of the so-far published pre-Pleistocene records ascribed to Carex. We have made every attempt to include all pertinent paleobotanical literature. The extensive collection of the Museum fur Naturkunde (Berlin, Germany) has also been studied. We found that up to 83 names belonging to different Carex groups may be applied to reliable remains, plus another 23 names of doubtful remains. These fossils come from more than 550 sites, mainly from C and E Europe and the Russian Federations. The age of the reliable fossil record ranges from the Eocene to recent times. Problems detected on the taxonomy, age and naming of these fossils are discussed. We hope that this work will stimulate neobotanical and paleobotanical communities to work together on broad-scope systematic projects as this one.

Fossil cytoplasm is attracting increasing attention in the fossil record, and ultrastructures in plant cells are revealing new aspects of ancient life. Chloroplasts have been previously reported in fossil plants in the US, Canada, and Russia. Here, we report on fossil chloroplasts with internal ultrastructure in a fossil leaf of Nelumbo changchangensis from the Eocene of Hainan Island, South China. The chloroplasts in this fossil demonstrate great similarity to their counterparts in living relative as well as those in the previous reports. The well-preserved chloroplasts in plant fossils call for more attention to ultrastructures and the fossilizing mechanisms of cytoplasm.

The modern New Zealand flora has a relatively low number of families and genera in relation to land area, but well-preserved macrofossils and pollen from three sites in southern New Zealand suggest that the floras in Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene times were much more diverse at the generic level. At Pikopiko, Southland, a late Eocene in situ forest with fern understory was dominated by conifers, Casuarinaceae, Lauraceae, Nothofagus, Proteaceae, and mesothermal angiosperms including palms (aff. Calamus), Sapindaceae: Cupaniae and Picrodendraceae. At Newvale Mine, Southland, a leaf bed within a thick lignite seam represents leaf fossils preserved in a late Oligocene oligotrophic bog. This site demonstrates that Agathis, Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Halocarpus, Microcachrys, Podocarpus and Phyllocladus coexisted with diverse angiosperms including Nothofagus, Gymnostoma, Cunoniaceae, Ericaceae, Sapindaceae and several Proteaceae. Pollen data add Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, Onagraceae and Rubiaceae to the flora. At Foulden Maar, Otago, mummified leaves and flowers, including several with in situ pollen, demonstrate the existence of a diverse flora surrounding an Early Miocene lake. This site contains numerous monocot macrofossils including Astelia, Cordyline, Ripogonum and Typha, as well as the oldest fossils known for Orchidaceae and Luzuriagaceae. This flora was dominated by Lauraceae with affinities to Cryptocarya and Litsea, but other families include Araliaceae, Cunoniaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Euphorbiaceae sensu lato, Menispermaceae, Myrsinaceae, Myrtaceae, Onagraceae, Proteaceae and Sterculiaceae. Many ferns, conifers, and Nothofagus are from lineages with Gondwanan ancestors, whereas other taxa show links to Australia (e.g., Gyrostemonaceae), New Caledonia (e.g., Beauprea) and South America (e.g., Luzuriaga, Fuchsia). Many of these taxa are now extinct in New Zealand, and therefore indicate much wider biogeographic ranges for many families and genera in the past.

Angiosperms are a group of plants with the highest rate of evolution, the largest number of species, the widest distribution and the strongest adaptability. Needless to say, angiosperms are the most important group for the humans. The studies on the origin, evolution and systematics of angiosperms have been the major challenges in plant sciences. However, the origin and early history of angiosperms remains poorly understood and controversial among paleobotanists. Some paleobotanists insist that there were no angiosperms in the pre-Cretaceous age. However, this conclusion is facing increasing challenges from fossil evidence, especially Early Jurassic Nanjinganthus, which is based on over two hundred specimens of fossil flowers. Studying more fossil plants is the only reliable way to elucidate the origin and early evolution of angiosperms. Here, we document a new species of angiosperms, Qingganninginfructus formosa gen. et sp. nov, and provide the first detailed three-dimensional morphology of Qingganninginfructus gen. nov from the Middle Jurassic of Northwest China. A Micro-CT examination shows that the best-preserved fossil infructescence has eleven samaroid fruits, each with a single basal ovule. Since these fossils are distinct in morphology and organization from all organs of known gymnosperms and angiosperms (the latter are defined by their enclosed ovules), we interpret Qingganninginfructus as a new genus of angiosperms including a new species, Q. formosa gen. et sp. nov., and an unspecified species from the Middle Jurassic of Northwest China. The discovery of this new genus of angiosperms from the Middle Jurassic, in addition to the existing records, undermines the “no angiosperms until the Cretaceous” stereotype and updates the perspective on the origin and early history of angiosperms.

Fossil plant localities are potential geosites, but related information is limited for some paleofloristic domains. Four geosites representing Visean (Mississippian, Carboniferous) plant-bearing deposits are reported from two areas of the Moscow Basin (central eastern Laurussia). These are the Mountainous Msta area in the northwestern segment of this basin and the Tula Region in its southern segment. The localities were examined in the field and characterized with criteria related to geoheritage properties (e.g., geoheritage types, physical view, accessibility, vulnerability, and research importance). One of these localities has already been established as a geosite (official status of protected area) and three other localities are proposed as geosites in this work (two of them are situated in the planned protected area). It is established that all considered geosites represent notable assemblages of Visean plants, with some exhibiting unique preservation and interesting sedimentary features, such as the “Tula pipes”. Essentially, the localities are small natural outcrops and abandoned quarries with perfect accessibility. They have potential for future research projects, as well as for geological education and tourism. Presently, their vulnerability is only potential, but it can increase due to touristic exploitation in the nearest future; thus, this property requires special attention. More generally, these geosites are important sources of the knowledge of the Early Carboniferous equatorial vegetation in eastern Laurussia.