Home / Articles in Palaeobotany / Overviews of Plant Fossil Lagerstätten and Their Palaeoenvironments

! J.M. Anderson et al. (1998): Late Triassic ecosystems of the Molteno/Lower Elliot biome of southern Africa. PDF file, Palaeontology 41.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

M.K. Bamford, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa: Methods for reconstructing past vegetation based on macroplant fossils. In PDF.

M. Barbacka et al. (2014): European Jurassic floras: statistics and palaeoenvironmental proxies.In PDF, Acta Palaeobotanica, 54: 173-195.

G. Barth et al. (2014): Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) brackish to freshwater habitats at a fluvial-dominated delta plain (Seinstedt, Lower Saxony, Germany). In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 94. See also here.

A.R. Bashforth et al. (2022): Taphonomic megabiases and the apparent rise of the dryland biome during the Pennsylvanian to Permian transition. Powerpoint presentation (pptx-extension), 11^th European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference (Stockholm, Sweden).

A.R. Bashforth et al. (2014): Paleoecology of Early Pennsylvanian vegetation on a seasonally dry tropical landscape (Tynemouth Creek Formation, New Brunswick, Canada). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 200: 229–263. See also here.
Note fig. 6, 7: Upright cordaitalean trees.
Fig. 8C, 8D: Upright Calamites axes.

R.M. Bateman et al. (2016): Stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology of the Loch Humphrey Burn lagerstätte and other Mississippian palaeobotanical localities of the Kilpatrick Hills, southwest Scotland. PeerJ 4.

A. Bercovici et al. (2015): Terrestrial paleoenvironment characterization across the Permian-Triassic boundary in South China. In PDF, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 98: 225-246. See also here.

A.C. Bippus et al. (2019): Fossil fern rhizomes as a model system for exploring epiphyte community structure across geologic time: evidence from Patagonia. Open access, PeerJ., 7: e8244.
Note figure 2E: Coprolite-filled gallery in osmundaceous leaf base.

B. Bomfleur et al. (2018): Polar Regions of the Mesozoic-Paleogene Greenhouse World as Refugia for Relict Plant Groups. Chapter 24, in PDF, in: M. Krings, C.J. Harper, N.R. Cuneo and G.W. Rothwell (eds.): Transformative Paleobotany Papers to Commemorate the Life and Legacy of Thomas N. Taylor.
Note figure 24.2: Distribution of Dicroidium through space and time.

! B. Bomfleur et al. (2013): Whole-Plant Concept and Environment Reconstruction of a Telemachus Conifer (Voltziales) from the Triassic of Antarctica. In PDF. See also here (abstract).

M. Brea et al. (2015): Reconstruction of a fossil forest reveals details of the palaeoecology, palaeoenvironments and climatic conditions in the late Oligocene of South America. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 418: 19-42.

! J.H. Calder et al. (2006): A fossil lycopsid forest succession in the classic Joggins section of Nova Scotia: Paleoecology of a disturbance-prone Pennsylvanian wetland. Abstract, in: S.F. Greb and W.A. DiMichele (eds.): GSA Special Papers, Wetlands through Time, 399: 169-194. See also here (in PDF), and there (Google books).

A. Channing and D. Edwards (2009): Yellowstone hot spring environments and the palaeoecophysiology of Rhynie chert plants: towards a synthesis. In PDF, Plant Ecology & Diversity. See also here.

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. Cleal et al. (2021): Palaeobotanical experiences of plant diversity in deep time. 1: How well can we identify past plant diversity in the fossil record? Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 576.
See also here (in PDF).

! T. Clements et al. (2019): The Mazon Creek Lagerstätte: a diverse late Paleozoic ecosystem entombed within siderite concretions. Open access, Journal of the Geological Society, 176: 1–11.

C.E. Colombi and J.T. Parrish (2008): Late Triassic Environmental Evolution in Southwestern Pangea: Plant Taphonomy of the Ischigualasto Formation. In PDF, Palaios.

L.G. Costamagna et al. (2018): A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Middle Jurassic of Sardinia (Italy) based on integrated palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies data assessment. Free access, Palaeobio. Palaeoenv., 98: 111–138.

Bruce Cornet: APPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF PALYNOLOGY IN AGE, CLIMATIC, AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL ANALYZES OF TRIASSIC SEQUENCES IN NORTH AMERICA. Lucas, S.G. and M. Morales, eds., 1993. The Nonmarine Triassic. New Mexico Museum Of Natural History & Science Bulletin No.3, p. 75-93.

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

N.R. Cúneo et al. (2003): In situ fossil forest from the upper Fremouw Formation (Triassic) of Antarctica: paleoenvironmental setting and paleoclimate analysis. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 197: 239-261.

C.R. Cunningham et al. (1993): The Upper Carboniferous Hamilton Fossil-Lagerstätte in Kansas: a valley-fill, tidally influenced deposit. In PDF, Lethaia, 26: 225-236. See also here.

C.G. Diedrich (2009): A coelacanthid-rich site at Hasbergen (NW Germany): taphonomy and palaeoenvironment of a first systematic excavation in the Kupferschiefer (Upper Permian, Lopingian). In PDF, Palaeobio. Palaeoenv., 89: 67-94. See also here (abstract).
Mapped taphonomy of plants (hinterland flora), invertebrates and fish vertebrates at six different planal levels on a 12 m² area.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2021): Plant-Fossil Taphonomy, Late Pennsylvanian Kinney Quarry, New Mexico, USA. Google books, In: Lucas, S.G., DiMichele, W.A. and Allen, B.D. (eds): Kinney Brick Quarry Lagerstätte. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 84.
See also here (in PDF), and there.

! W.A. DiMichele (2014): Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics. Int. J. Plant Sci., 175: 123-164. See also here (in PDF).
Large Sigillaria stump cast on PDF page 12 (fig. 8).
! Reconstructions of coal swamps and some dryland plant reconstructions with Cordaitalean trees Walchian conifers.

W.A. DiMichele et al. (2007): A low diversity, seasonal tropical landscape dominated by conifers and peltasperms: Early Permian Abo Formation, New Mexico. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 145: 249-273.

! W.A. DiMichele et al. (2004): An unusual Middle Permian flora from the Blaine Formation (Pease River Group: Leonardian-Guadalupian Series) of King County, West Texas. In PDF, J. Paleont., 78: 765-782.
See also here.
Paper awarded with the Winfried and Renate Remy Award 2005 (Paleobotanical Section), Botanical Society of America.

M.P. Donovan et al. (2021): Atlas of Selected Kinney Quarry Plant Fossils, Late Pennsylvanian, Central New Mexico. Google books. PDF download available.
In: Lucas, S.G., DiMichele, W.A. and Allen, B.D., (eds.): Kinney Brick Quarry Lagerstätte. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 84.

! H.J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2006): The Pennsylvanian tropical biome reconstructed from the Joggins Formation of nova Scotia, Canada. In PDF, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 163: 561–576. See also here.

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.

J.R. Foster et al. (2018): Paleontology, taphonomy, and sedimentology of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry, a large dinosaur bonebed in the Morrison Formation, western Colorado—Implications for Upper Jurassic dinosaur preservation modes. In PDF, Geology of the Intermountain West. See also here and there.

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.

N.C. Fraser and H.-D. Sues (2012): The beginning of the "Age of Dinosaurs": a brief overview of terrestrial biotic changes during the Triassic. Abstract, Earth and Environmental Science, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 101.

! J.-C. Gall and L. Grauvogel-Stamm (2005): The early Middle Triassic "Grès à Voltzia" Formation of eastern France: a model of environmental refugium. PDF file, C. R. Palevol, 4: 637-652. Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

R.A. Gastaldo and M.W. Rolerson (2008): Katbergia gen. nov., a new trace fossil from Upper Permian and Lower Triassic rocks of the Karoo Basin: Implications for palaeoenvironmental conditions at the P/Tr extinction event. PDF file, Palaeontology, 51: 215-229.

A.E. Götz et al. (2011): Palaeoenvironment of the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) and Early Jurassic (Hettangian) Mecsek Coal Formation (south Hungary): implications from macro and microfloral assemblages. Abstract, Palaeobio. Palaeoenv., 91: 75. See also here (in PDF).

E.L. Gulbranson et al. (2012): Permian polar forests: deciduousness and environmental variation. In PDF, Geobiology, 10: 479-495.

D.M. Guido et al. (2010): Jurassic geothermal landscapes and fossil ecosystems at San Agustín, Patagonia, Argentina. In PDF, Journal of the Geological Society, 167: 11-20.

! Z. Hermanová et al. (2021): Plant mesofossils from the Late Cretaceous Klikov Formation, the Czech Republic. Open access, Fossil Imprint, 77.
"... The fossils are charcoalified or lignitised, and usually three-dimensionally preserved. ..."

W.B.K. Holmes and H.M. Anderson (2013): A synthesis of the rich Gondwana Triassic megafossil flora from Nymboida, Australia. PDF file; In Tanner, L.H., Spielmann, J.A. and Lucas, S.G. (eds.): The Triassic System. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin, 61: 296-305.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Including a reconstruction of the floodplain of the Nymboida Subbasin during mid Triassic time (from Retallack 1977).

H. Yang et al. (2005): Biomolecular preservation of Tertiary Metasequoia Fossil Lagerstätten revealed by comparative pyrolysis analysis. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 134: 237-256.
See also here.

B.P. Kear et al. (2016): An introduction to the Mesozoic biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic territories. In PDF.

! H. Kerp et al. (2021, start on PDF-page 141): The fossil flora of the Dead Sea region, Jordan–A late Permian Garden of Delights. Journal of Palaeosciences, 70: 135–158.

Khudadad (2021): A Middle Devonian vernal pool ecosystem provides a snapshot of the earliest forests. Open access, PLoS ONE 16(9): e0255565.

D.S. Kopylov et al. (2020): The Khasurty Fossil Insect Lagerstätte. In PDF, Paleontological Journal, 54: 1221–1394. See also here.
Worth checking out:
Starting on page 1350 (PDF page 130): Bryophyta and Marchantiophyta. Mosses and Liverworts (by Y.S. Mamontov and M.S. Ignatov).
Starting on page 1364 (PDF page 144): Trachaeophyta. Vascular Plants (by N.V. Bazhenova).

E. Kustatscher et al. (2017): Sea-level changes in the Lopingian (late Permian) of the northwestern Tethys and their effects on the terrestrial palaeoenvironments, biota and fossil preservation. Abstract, Global and Planetary Change, 148: 166–180. See also here (in PDF).

Kustatscher, E., van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, J.H.A. & Gianolla, P. (2006): The Kühwiesenkopf/Monte Pra della Vacca (Prags/Braies Dolomites, Northern Italy): An attempt to reconstruct an Anisian (lower Middle Triassic) palaeoenvironment. PDF file, 9th International Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota, 27-29.05.06, Manchester, Abstract and Proceedings Volume, p. 63-66, 164.

E. Kustatscher and J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2005): The Ladinian Flora (Middle Triassic) of the Dolomites: palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and palaeoclimatic considerations. PDF file.

E. Kustatscher and J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2004): The Flora of Kühwiesenkopf / Monte Prà della Vacca (Dolomites, N-Italy): An attempt to reconstruct an Anisian (middle Triassic) palaeoenvironment, and The Ladinian Flora (Middle Triassic) of the Dolomites: Palaeoenvironmental and Palaeoclimatic Considerations. Abstracts, The 15th Plant Taphonomy Meeting, Naturalis, National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, The Netherlands, 12-13th November 2004.
Versions archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

M.B. Lara et al. (2017): Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of an Upper Triassic deposit in southwestern Gondwana (Argentina) based on an insect fauna, plant assemblage, and their interactions. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 476: 163–180. See also here.

C.V. Looy et al. (2014): Evidence for coal forest refugia in the seasonally dry Pennsylvanian tropical lowlands of the Illinois Basin, USA. PeerJ., 2.

! L. Luthardt et al. (2022): Upside-down in volcanic ash: crown reconstruction of the early Permian seed fern Medullosa stellata with attached foliated fronds. Open access, PeerJ, 10: e13051.
"... The upper part of a Medullosa stellata var. typica individual broke at its top resulting from the overload of volcanic ash and was buried upside-down in the basal pyroclastics. The tree crown consists of the anatomically preserved apical stem, ten attached Alethopteris schneideri foliated fronds with Myeloxylon-type petioles and rachises. ..."

L. Luthardt et al. (2016): Palaeoclimatic and site-specific conditions in the early Permian fossil forest of Chemnitz—Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeobotanical evidence. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 441: 627–652.
See also here.

A.C. Mancuso and C.A. Marsicano (2008): Paleoenvironments and taphonomy of a Triassic lacustrine system (Los Rastros Formation, central-western Argentina). In PDF, Palaios, 23: 535–547. See also here.

M.R. McCurry et al. (2022): A Lagerstätte from Australia provides insight into the nature of Miocene mesic ecosystems. Free access, Sci. Adv., 8.

S. McLoughlin and C. Strullu-Derrien (2015): Biota and palaeoenvironment of a high middle-latitude Late Triassic peat-forming ecosystem from Hopen, Svalbard archipelago. PDF file, in: Kear B.P. et al. (eds): Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories. Geol. Soc. London Spec. Pub., 434: 87–112.
See also here.

M.M. Mendes et al. (2014): Vegetational composition of the Early Cretaceous Chicalhão flora (Lusitanian Basin, western Portugal) based on palynological and mesofossil assemblages. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 200: 65-81. See also here (abstract).

! S. Oplustil et al. (2014): T⁰ peat-forming plant assemblage preserved in growth position by volcanic ash-fall: A case study from the Middle Pennsylvanian of the Czech Republic. In PDF, see also here (abstract).

R. Prevec et al. (2022): South African Lagerstätte reveals middle Permian Gondwanan lakeshore ecosystem in exquisite detail. Open access, Communications Biology, 5.
Note figure 1: Climatic zones for the Wordian of Pangea including locations of middle Permian fossil insect discoveries.
Figure 6: Reconstruction of a middle Permian lakeshore palaeoenvironment.

M.W. Rasser et al. (2013): The Randeck Maar: Palaeoenvironment and habitat differentiation of a Miocene lacustrine system. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 392: 426–453. See also here.

! G.J. Retallack (1977): Reconstructing Triassic vegetation of eastern Australasia: a new approach for the biostratigraphy of Gondwanaland. In PDF, Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 1. See also here.

Gregory J. Retallack, Evelyn S. Krull, and Scott E. Robinson, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene: Permian and Triassic paleosols and paleoenvironments of the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.

! R. Rößler et al. (2008): Auf Schatzsuche in Chemnitz – Wissenschaftliche Grabungen `08. PDF file, in German. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Naturkunde Chemnitz, 31: 05-44.
"... This contribution provides an overview and first results of the Natural History Museum’s scientific excavation,
[...] The whole tuff section provided plenty of fossil finds; some of the trunks still remained standing upright (in-situ) in growth position. The set of Permian age plants evidenced at this excavation belongs to a diverse mainly hygrophilous community made of cordaitaleans, medullosan seed ferns, calamitaleans and tree ferns. Of special scientific interest is a cordaitalean gymnosperm trunk showing branching in different height levels and some Arthropitys specimens one of these showing for the first time the diverse branched top of a calamitalean trunk ..."

! R. Rößler and M. Barthel(1998): Rotliegend taphocoenoses preservation favoured by rhyolitic explosive volcanism. In PDF, Freiberger Forschungshefte C, 474: 59–101. See also here.

A.J. Sagasti et al. (2021): Plant Taphonomy and Paleoenvironment of the Bahía Laura Complex, Middle–Late Jurassic, at the Laguna Flecha Negra Locality (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). In PDF, Ameghiniana, 58. See also here.

J.D. Schiffbauer and M. LaFlamme (2012): Lagerstätten through time: A collection of exceptional preservational pathway from the terminal Neoproterozoic through today. In PDF, Palaios.
See also here.

! J.W. Schneider et al. (2021): Sedimentology and depositional environment of the Kinney Brick Quarry fossil Lagerstätte (Missourian, Late Pennsylvanian), central New Mexico. PDF file. In: Lucas, S.G., DiMichele, W.A. and Allen, B.D. (eds.): Kinney Brick Quarry Lagerstätte. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 84. See also here.

D.E. Shcherbakov (2008): Madygen, Triassic Lagerstätte number one, before and after Sharov. PDF file, Alavesia, 2: 113-124. Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! 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.

! S.S.T. Simon et al. (2018): An exhumed fine-grained meandering channel in the lower Permian Clear Fork Formation, north-central Texas: Processes of mud accumulation and the role of vegetation in channel dynamics. In PDF, Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ., 48: 149–172. See also here.

S.S.T. Simon et al. (2016): An abandoned-channel fill with exquisitely preserved plants in redbeds of the Clear Fork Formation, Texas, USA: an Early Permian water-dependent habitat on the arid plains of Pangea. In PDF, J. Sed. Res., 86, 944–964. See also here.
Note fig. 11: Goethite petrification of cellular structure of plant remains.

! S. Simon (2016): Sedimentology of the Fluvial Systems of the Clear Fork Formation in North-Central Texas: Implications for Early Permian Paleoclimate and Plant Fossil Taphonomy. In PDF, Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
See especially PDF page 185: "Taphonomy and Preservation of Plant Material".
Goethite petrification of cellular structure of plant remains on PDF page 188.

! B.J. Slater et al. (2015): A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Gondwana Research, 27: 1446-1473. See also here (abstract).

S.M. Slater and C.H. Wellman (2015): A quantitative comparison of dispersed spore/pollen and plant megafossil assemblages from a Middle Jurassic plant bed from Yorkshire, UK. Open access, Paleobiology, 41: 640–660. See also here.
"... Preferential occurrence/preservation of sporomorphs and equivalent parent plants is a consequence of a complex array of biological, ecological, geographical, taphonomic, and depositional factors that act inconsistently between and within fossil assemblages, which results in notable discrepancies between data sets. ..."

M. Souto et al. (2019): The Use of Plant Macrofossils for Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions in Southern European Peatlands. Open access, Quaternary, 2.

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.

P.K. Strother and C.H. Wellman (2021): The Nonesuch Formation Lagerstätte: a rare window into freshwater life one billion years ago. Open access, Journal of the Geological Society, 178.
"... Nonesuch microbiota, when viewed as a Lagerstätte, opens up a window onto the early evolution of unicellular eukaryotes, presenting an essential baseline of both eukaryotic diversity and cell structure well in advance of eukaryotic diversification documented in marine deposits from the later Neoproterozoic. ..."

G.J. Vermeij (2015): Paleophysiology: From Fossils to the Future. Trends in ecology & evolution.

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

C.H. Wellman (2018): Palaeoecology and palaeophytogeography of the Rhynie chert plants: further evidence from integrated analysis of in situ and dispersed spores. Abstract, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373. See also here (in PDF).
Note figure 1: Reconstruction of the Rhynie basin depositional setting and environments.

G. Worobiec and E. Worobiec 2019): Wetland vegetation from the Miocene deposits of the Belchatów Lignite Mine (central Poland). In PDF, Palaeontologia Electronica, https://doi.org/10.26879/871.

M. Zaton et al. (2005): Late Triassic charophytes around the bone-bearing bed at Krasiejów (SW Poland) -- palaeoecological and environmental remarks. PDF file, Acta Geologica Polonica, 55: 83-293.
See also here.

! 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.

L. Zhang et al. (2021): First fossil foliage record in the red beds from the Upper Jurassic in the Sichuan Basin, southern China. In PDF, Geological Journal. See also here.