Home / Articles in Palaeobotany / Cretaceous Palaeobotany

K.L. Alvin et al. (1981): Anatomy and palaeoecology of Pseudofrenelopsis and associated conifers in the English Wealden. PDF file, Palaeontology, 24: 759-778.

The L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University: Paleobotanical Holdings at the Bailey Hortorium. Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine. Go to: Cretaceous Fossils. Articles with numerous photographs.

A. Bartiromo (2012): The cuticle micromorphology of extant and fossil plants as indicator of environmental conditions: A pioneer study on the influence of volcanic gases on the cuticle structure in extant plants. Dissertation, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon.

M.E.P. Batista et al. (2017): New data on the stem and leaf anatomy of two conifers from the Lower Cretaceous of the Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil, and their taxonomic and paleoecological implications. Open access, PLoS ONE 12: e0173090.

BBC News, Friday, 3 May, 2002: "Oldest flower" found in China.

C.M. Belcher and V.A. Hudspith (2017): Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytologist, 213: 1521–1532.

Michael Bernstein, Washington and New Orleans, March 21-27, 2003: (American Chemical Society, EurekAlert): Scientists find evidence for crucial root in the history of plant evolution.

A.C. Bippus (2018): Extending the fossil record of the Polytrichaceae (Bryophyta): insights from the early Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada. In PDF, thesis, Humboldt State University, Arcata, Canada. See also here.

C. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2019): A novel approach for the metric analysis of fern fronds: Growth and architecture of the Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata in the light of modern ferns. Open access, PLoS ONE, 14: e0219192.

B. Blonder et al. (2014): Plant Ecological Strategies Shift Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary. In PDF, PLoS Biol, 12.

! W.J. Bond and A.C. Scott (2010): Fire and the spread of flowering plants in the Cretaceous. In PDF, New Phytologist, 188: 1137-1150.

The palaeofiles. Articles here have all been prepared by students on the palaeobiology programmes in Bristol:
! The origin and evolution of angiosperms.
Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

R.J. Burnham and K.R. Johnson (2004): South American palaeobotany and the origins of neotropical rainforests. In PDF, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B 359: 1595-1610.

R.J. Butler et al. (2009): Diversity patterns amongst herbivorous dinosaurs and plants during the Cretaceous: implications for hypotheses of dinosaur/angiosperm co-evolution. PDF file, Journal of Evolutionary Biol., 22: 446-459. See also here (abstract).

M.A. Carizzo et al. (2019): Cuticle ultrastructure in Brachyphyllum garciarum sp. nov (Lower Cretaceous, Argentina) reveals its araucarian affinity. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 269: 104-128. See also here (in PDF).

Note fig. 7: Brachyphyllum garciarum sp. nov. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the cuticles.

! M.R. Carvalho et al. (2021): Extinction at the end-Cretaceous and the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests Science, 372: 63–68. See also here (in PDF).
"... Plant diversity declined by 45% at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary and did not recover for ~6 million years. ..."
Please take notice: Wie der Asteroid den Regenwald prägte. Wissenschaft.de, in German.

C. Chinnappa and A. Rajanikanth (2017): Early Cretaceous flora from the Pranhita-Godavari Basin (east coast of India): taxonomic, taphonomic and palaeoecological considerations. In PDF, Acta Palaeobotanica, 57: 13–32.

C. Chinnappa et al. (2014): Gymnosperm fossils from the Gangapur Formation (Early Cretaceous) of Adilabad District, Telangana, India. In PDF, Geophytology, 44: 91-104.

C. Coiffard et al. (2012): Deciphering Early Angiosperm Landscape Ecology Using a Clustering Method on Cretaceous Plant Assemblages. In PDF.

Bruce Cornet, (?) Raritan Valley Community College, Somerville, NJ: Why do Paleobotanists Believe in a Cretaceous Origin of Angiosperms? A controversial topic. This website presents palaeobotanical evidence on the origin of flowering plants, with evidence for and against a Cretaceous origin. See also: Angiosperm Evolution.

! W.L. Crepet and K.J. Niklas (2009): Darwin´s second "abominable mystery": Why are there so many angiosperm species? PDF file, American Journal of Botany, 96: 366-381. See also here (abstract).

N.R. Cúneo et al. (2014): Late Cretaceous Aquatic Plant World in Patagonia, Argentina. Open access, PLoS ONE, 9: e104749.

Charles Daghlian (Dartmouth College, Hannover, NH) and Jennifer Svitko, Paleobotanical Holdings at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University: Paleoclusia 3D Reconstructions. Movies from CT scans done on the Turonian fossils. See also here (W.L. Crepet and K.C. Nixon 1998, abstract and photos).

H.J. de Boer et al. (2012): A critical transition in leaf evolution facilitated the Cretaceous angiosperm revolution. In PDF, Nature Communications, 3. See also here.

! Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, Colorado: DMNS Paleobotany Collection. This website contains over 1000 images of fossil plants spanning the late Cretaceous through early Eocene from the Western Interior of North America. Go to: Identification Flow Chart, or start with Morphotype a Flora. A guide to morphotyping (or binning) a fossil flora step-by-step.

David Dilcher (2000): Toward a new synthesis: Major evolutionary trends in the angiosperm fossil record. PDF file, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 97: 7030-7036. See also here.

J.A. Doyle and P.K. Endress (2014): Integrating Early Cretaceous Fossils into the Phylogeny of Living Angiosperms: ANITA Lines and Relatives of Chloranthaceae Int. J. Plant Sci., 175: 555–600. See also here.

H. El Atfy et al. (2019): Repeated occurrence of palaeo-wildfires during deposition of the Bahariya Formation (early Cenomanian) of Egypt. Open access, Journal of Palaeogeography, 8.

Beth Ellis et al. (2009): Manual of Leaf Architecture. Book announcement. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
! See also here and there.

I.H. Escapa et al. (2016): A new species of Athrotaxites (Athrotaxoideae, Cupressaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous Raritan Formation, New Jersey, USA. In PDF, Botany, 94: 831–845.

H.J. Falcon-Lang et. al. (2016): The oldest Pinus and its preservation by fire. Abstract, Geology, 44: 303-306. See also here (in PDF).

H.J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2004): Palaeoecology of Late Cretaceous polar vegetation preserved in the Hansen Point Volcanics, NW Ellesmere Island, Canada. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 212: 45-64.

T.L. Fletcher et al. (2015): Wood growth indices as climate indicators from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) portion of the Winton Formation, Australia. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 417: 35-43.

J.E. Francis et al. (2007): 100 million years of Antarctic climate evolution: evidence from fossil plants. In PDF. Related Publications from ANDRILL Affiliates. Paper 3.
Pay attention to fig. 3, reconstruction of the forest environment on Alexander Island during the Cretaceous.

Jane E. Francis and Imogen Poole (2002): Cretaceous and early Tertiary climates of Antarctica: evidence from fossil wood. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 182: 47-64.

! E.M. Friis et al. (2019): The Early Cretaceous Mesofossil Flora of Torres Vedras (Ne of Forte Da Forca), Portugal: A Palaeofloristic Analysis of an Early Angiosperm Community. Open access, Fossil Imprint, 75: 153–257. See also here (in PDF).
"... the oldest mesofossil flora containing angiosperm remains to be described in detail based on well-preserved flower, fruit and seed remains. It provides the most detailed information currently available on the structural diversity of angiosperms at this early stage in their evolution, the range of angiosperm species present, and their relationships to extant angiosperm lineages. ..."

E.M. Friis et al. (2015): Exceptional preservation of tiny embryos documents seed dormancy in early angiosperms. In PDF, Nature, 528: 551-554. See also here.

! E.M. Friis et al. (2014): Three-dimensional visualization of fossil flowers, fruits, seeds, and other plant remains using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM): new insights into Cretaceous plant diversity. In PDF, Journal of Paleontology, 88: 684–701.

Else Marie Friis, Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen and Peter R. Crane (2010): Diversity in obscurity: fossil flowers and the early history of angiosperms. PDF file, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 365: 369-382. Some of the specimens are charcoalified and have retained their original three-dimensional shape. See also here.

Else Marie Friis, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm: Cretaceous angiosperms from Europe and North America (Silvianthemum suecicum), and Cretaceous angiosperms from Kazakhstan.
Snapshots taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M.W. Frohlich & M.W. Chase (2007): After a dozen years of progress the origin of angiosperms is still a great mystery. Abstract, Nature 450: 1184-1189. See also here (in PDF).

B. Gomez et al. (2015): Montsechia, an ancient aquatic angiosperm. In PDF, PNAS, 112: 10985–10988. See alao here.
Note Fig. 3: Reconstructions of Montsechia vidalii.

! S.F. Greb et al. (2006): Evolution and Importance of Wetlands in Earth History. PDF file, In: DiMichele, W.A., and Greb, S., eds., Wetlands Through Time: Geological Society of America, Special Publication, 399: 1-40. Rhacophyton and Archaeopteris in a Devonian wetland as well as Pennsylvanian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous wetland plant reconstructions.

! P.S. Herendeen et al. (2017): Palaeobotanical redux: revisiting the age of the angiosperms. In PDF, Nature Plants 3. See also here.

F. Herrera et al. (2020): Reconstructing Krassilovia mongolica supports recognition of a new and unusual group of Mesozoic conifers. Open access, PLoS ONE, 15: e0226779.
Note figs 6, 7: Reconstructions of Krassilovia mongolica. Drawings: Pollyanna von Knorring.

F. Herrera et al. (2018): Exceptionally well-preserved Early Cretaceous leaves of Nilssoniopteris from central Mongolia. Open access, Acta Palaeobotanica, 58: 135–157.

F. Herrera et al. (2017): An exquisitely preserved filmy fern (Hymenophyllaceae) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 104: 1370-1381. See also here (in PDF).

F. Herrera et al. (2017): The presumed ginkgophyte Umaltolepis has seed-bearing structures resembling those of Peltaspermales and Umkomasiales. In PDF, PNAS, 114. See also here.
See fig. 4: Reconstruction of Umaltolepis mongoliensis sp. nov. showing four seed-bearing structures and attached Pseudotorellia resinosa leaves.

F. Herrera et al. (2015): A New Voltzian Seed Cone from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia and Its Implications for the Evolution of Ancient Conifers. In PDF, Int. J. Plant Sci., 176: 791-809.

Norman F. Hughes (1994): The Enigma of Angiosperm Origins. 405 pages. Provided by Cambridge University Press through the Google Print Publisher Program. Registration procedure required. Use "More results from this book" or "Search this book" to navigate. Unfortunately, you can view two pages around your search result, but you can search again! Use Google Book Search to search the full text of books.

N.A. Jud (2015): Fossil evidence for a herbaceous diversification of early eudicot angiosperms during the Early Cretaceous. In PDF, Proc. R. Soc., B, 282. See also here.

N.A. Jud et al. (2018): A new fossil assemblage shows that large angiosperm trees grew in North America by the Turonian (Late Cretaceous). In PDF, Sci. Adv., 4: eaar8568.
"A large silicified log (maximum preserved diameter, 1.8 m; estimated height, ca. 50 m) is assigned to the genus Paraphyllanthoxylon; it is the largest known pre-Campanian angiosperm and the earliest documented occurrence of an angiosperm tree more than 1.0 m in diameter."

N.A. Jud and L.J. Hickey (2013): Potomacapnos apeleutheron gen. et sp. nov., a new Early Cretaceous angiosperm from the Potomac Group and its implications for the evolution of eudicot leaf architecture. In PDF, Am. J. Bot., see also here.

J.P. Klages et al. (2020): Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth. In PDF, Nature, 580: 81-86. See also here.
Note fig. 3: Reconstruction of the West Antarctic Turonian–Santonian temperate rainforest.

V.A. Krassilov (1997): Angiosperm Origins: Morphological and Ecological Aspects. PDF file (159 MB!), 270 p., (Pensoft), Sophia.

L. Kunzmann et al. (2011): A putative gnetalean gymnosperm Cariria orbiculiconiformis gen. nov. et spec. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of northern Gondwana. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 165: 75–95. See also here.

E. Kustatscher et al. (2013): Early Cretaceous araucarian driftwood from hemipelagic sediments of the Puez area, South Tyrol, Italy. In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 41: 270-276. See also here (abstract).

Jirí Kvacek et al. (2005): A new Late Cretaceous ginkgoalean reproductive structure Nehvizdyella gen. nov. from the Czech Republic and its whole-plant reconstruction. PDF file, American Journal of Botany, 92: 1958-1969.

R. Li et al. (2016): Fossil Liverworts from the Lower Cretaceous Huolinhe Formation in Inner Mongolia, China. In PDF, slow download. See also here (abstract).

R. Li et al. (2014): Marchantites huolinhensis sp. nov. (Marchantiales) - A new fossil liverwort with gemma cups from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 50: 16-26.

Z.-J. Liu et al. (2021): A whole-plant monocot from the Lower Cretaceous. Free access, Palaeoworld, 30: 169-175.
Note fig. 5: Reconstruction of Sinoherba ningchengensis, a herbaceous plant composed of a root with fibrous rootlets borne on the nodes, a stem with leaves and axillary branches on the nodes and inflorescences.

! S. Magallón (2009): Flowering plants (Magnoliophyta). PDF file, In: S.B. Hedges and S. Kumar (eds.): The Timetree of Life (see here).

J. Marmi et al. (2015): A riparian plant community from the upper Maastrichtian of the Pyrenees (Catalonia, NE Spain). In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 56: 510-529. See also here.

L.C.A. Martínez et al. (2012): A new cycad stem from the Cretaceous in Argentina and its phylogenetic relationships with other Cycadales. Free access, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 3: 436–458.

N.P. Maslova and A.B. Herman (2015): Approach to Identification of Fossil Angiosperm Leaves: Applicability and Significance of Krassilov´s Morphological System. In PDF, Botanica Pacifica, 4: 103–108.

K.K.S. Matsunaga et al. (2021): Ovulate Cones of Schizolepidopsis ediae sp. nov. Provide Insights into the Evolution of Pinaceae. Free access, Int. J. Plant Sci., 182: 490–507.

! C. Mays et al. (2019): The botanical provenance and taphonomy of Late Cretaceous Chatham amber, Chatham Islands, New Zealand. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 260: 16–26. See also here.

C. Mays et al. (2017): Polar wildfires and conifer serotiny during the Cretaceous global hothouse. In PDF, Geology, 45: 1119-1122. See also here.

Stephen McLoughlin et al. (2008): Seed ferns survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in Tasmania. PDF file, American Journal of Botany, 95: 465-471.

M.M. Mendes et al. (2018): Some Conifers from The Early Cretaceous (Late Aptian–Early Albian) of Catefica, Lusitanian Basin, Western Portugal. Free access, Fossil Imprint, 74: 317–326.

Daniel Oakley et al. (2009): Morphometric analysis of some Cretaceous angiosperm woods and their extant structural and phylogenetic analogues: Implications for systematics. PDF file, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 157: 375-390.

G.L. Osés (2016): Taphonomy of fossil groups from the crato member (Santana Formation), Araripe Basin, Early Cretaceous, North-east Brasil): geobiological, palaeoecological, and palaeoenvironmental implications. In PDF, Dissertation, Instituto de Geociências, São Paulo. See also here (abstract).

Marc Philippe et al. (2008): Woody or not woody? Evidence for early angiosperm habit from the Early Cretaceous fossil wood record of Europe. PDF file, Palaeoworld, 17: 142-152.

Tõnu Ploompuu, Biology, Tallinn Pedagogical University, Tallinn, Estonia: Resting and active evolution. Possible preadaptations in the early evolution of Angiosperms. See also here.

George Poinar and Greg Poinar (2018): The antiquity of floral secretory tissues that provide today’s fragrances. Abstract, Historical Biology. See also:
Schnupperten schon Dinos Blumenduft? Kreidezeitliche Blütenpflanzen könnten bereits Düfte produziert haben. In German, Scinexx.de.

! C. Pott et al. (2012): Baikalophyllum lobatum and Rehezamites anisolobus: Two Seed Plants with "Cycadophyte" Foliage from the Early Cretaceous of Eastern Asia. Paper awarded with the Remy and Remy Award 2012, Botanical Society of America.

A. Savoretti et al. (2019): Grimmiaceae in the Early Cretaceous: Tricarinella crassiphylla gen. et sp. nov. and the value of anatomically preserved bryophytes. In PDF, Annals of botany. See also here.

H. Schneider et al. (2016): Burmese amber fossils bridge the gap in the Cretaceous record of polypod ferns. In PDF, Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 18: 70–78. See also here (abstract).

G.W.K. Shelton et al. (2015): Exploring the fossil history of pleurocarpous mosses: Tricostaceae fam. nov. from the Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada. In PDF, American Journal of Botany.

G. Shi et al. (2021): Mesozoic cupules and the origin of the angiosperm second integument: In PDF, Nature, 2021. See also here.

G. Shi et al. (2019): Diversity and homologies of corystosperm seed-bearing structures from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Abstract, See also here (in PDF).
Note figure 12: Reconstruction of a shoot of Umkomasia mongolica.
Note figure 13: Reconstructions of the seed-bearing units of Umkomasia mongolica, Umkomasia corniculata and Umkomasia trilobata.

! G. Shi et al. (2016): Early Cretaceous Umkomasia from Mongolia: implications for homology of corystosperm cupules. In PDF, New Phytologist, 210: 1418–1429. See also here.

M.K.A. Smith et al. (2015): Mesozoic Diversity of Osmundaceae: Osmundacaulis whittlesii sp. nov. in the Early Cretaceous of Western Canada. Abstract, Journal of Plant Sciences, 176: 245-258. See also here (in PDF).

Stephen A. Smith et al. (2010): An uncorrelated relaxed-clock analysis suggests an earlier origin for flowering plants. PDF file, PNAS, 107: 5897-5902.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Robert A. Spicer and Alexei B. Herman (2010): The Late Cretaceous Environment of the Arctic: A Quantitative Reassessment based on Plant Fossils. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

A.K. Srivastava, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India: Taxonomy, palaeobotany and biodiversity About the angiosperm origin (PDF file, page 2). CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 81, NO. 10.

E. Stiles et al. (2020): Cretaceous–Paleogene plant extinction and recovery in Patagonia. Open access, Paleobiology, 46: 445–469.

! R.A. Stockey and G.W. Rothwell (2020): Diversification of crown group Araucaria: the role of Araucaria famii sp. nov. in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) radiation of Araucariaceae in the Northern Hemisphere. Abstract, American Journal of Botany, 107: 1–22. See also here (in PDF).

! Amber David W. Taylor and Leo J. Hickey (1996): Flowering Plant Origin, Evolution & Phylogeny. Google books (some pages omitted); American Institute of Biological Sciences (Springer), 404 pages.

A.M.F.M. Tomescu (2018): Exquisitely preserved tiny fossils are key for understanding moss evolution. Botany One.

S. Villalba-Breva et al. (2015): Plant taphonomy and palaeoenvironment from the Upper Cretaceous of Isona, Tremp Basin, southern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain. In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 54: 34-49.

S. Villalba Breva et al. (2012): Peat-forming plants in the Maastrichtian coals of the Eastern Pyrenees. In PDF, Geologica Acta, 10.

S. Wang et al. (2021): Cretaceous fire-resistant angiosperms. In PDF, preprint, DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-494355/v1.
See also here.
"... both preserved as inclusions in Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (~99 Ma). These specialized flower structures, named Phylica piloburmensis sp. nov. and Eophylica priscastellata gen. et sp. nov., were adapted to surviving frequent wildfires, providing the earliest evidence of fire-resistance in angiosperms. ..."

! X. Wang (2017): A Biased, Misleading Review on Early Angiosperms. In PDF, Natural Science, 9: 399-405.
Please note: P.S. Herendeen et al. (2017): Palaeobotanical redux: revisiting the age of the angiosperms. In PDF, Nature Plants 3. See also here.

J.E. Watkins and C.L. Cardelús (2012): Ferns in an angiosperm world: cretaceous radiation into the epiphytic niche and diversification on the forest floor. Abstract, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 173.

! S.L. Wing and L.D. Boucher (1998): Ecological aspects of the Cretaceous flowering plant radiation. In PDF, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 1998 26: 379-421.

! J.A. Wolfe and G.R. Upchurch (1987): Leaf assemblages across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Raton Basin, New Mexico and Colorado. Free access, Proc. National Academy of Sciences USA, 84: 5096-5100.

J. Yans et al. (2010): Carbon-isotope analysis of fossil wood and dispersed organic matter from the terrestrial Wealden facies of Hautrage (Mons Basin, Belgium). In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291: 85-105.

! A.E. Zanne et al. (2014): Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments. In PDF, Nature. Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

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