Links for Palaeobotanists 1

An annotated collection of pointers to information on palaeobotany
or to WWW resources which may be of use to palaeobotanists (with an Upper Triassic bias).

C.A. Meyer et al. (2026): Sedimentology and palaeoecology of a Rhaetian bone bed in Northern Switzerland formed during transgression of a muddy coastal plain setting with fluvial-estuarine channels. In PDF, Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 119: 85-110. DOI 10.3897/sjg.119.187486.
"... Palynological assemblages dominated by hygrophilous spores and characteristic Rhaetian dinoflagellates constrain the age to the middle Rhaetian and document a diverse lowland vegetation adapted to a humid environment
[...] This study reconciles earlier conflicting interpretations by demonstrating that the bone bed records a complex interplay of terrestrial, freshwater and marine influences rather than a fully marine or purely continental setting ..."

N. De Leo et al. (2026): Open access and digital morphology data in evolutionary biology: expanding frontiers of knowledge. Open access, BMC Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-026-02522-yhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-026-02522-y. See likewise here (in PDF).
"... This review synthesizes technical, legal, and behavioural perspectives on open data in digital morphology, building on prior work to address the specific challenges of the current AI era. By advocating for the adoption of FAIR principles [Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable], the use of persistent digital identifiers, and the implementation of digital watermarking, we offer recommendations for establishing minimum standards in data publication. ..."

Paul R. Janke, Pan Terra Inc., Hill City, SD:
History of Geology.
Retrieved from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

J.S. Ferraz and J.R.I. Ribeiro (2026): Quantitative patterns of vegetative versus reproductive fossil preservation in Permian palaeoflorae: a meta-analysis and network approach. Open access, Brazilian Journal of Botany, 49. See here as well (in PDF).
"... Reproductive and vegetative organs may be preserved in systematically different proportions, potentially biasing our understanding of past plant communities and leading to over or underestimation of diversity depending on the fossils available in different regions, climates, or time intervals. We thus investigate whether vegetative or reproductive elements reported in 37 studies spanning 1945 to 2024 are more abundant in the Permian fossil record and how different geographic scales influence the diversity of these elements ..."

J. McElwain et al. (2026): The geological history of plant mass extinction and terrestrial ecosystem collapse. In PDF, https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9282628/v1. See here as well.
"... we briefly review the magnitudes and abiotic drivers of past plant extinction events, examine their global climatic context compared to today and critically evaluate metrics used to define fossil plant mass extinction
[...] We show that ecosystem collapse during four of the five examined events is characterized by a transition to a novel ecosystem post-collapse rather than by an expansion of the antecedent ecospace ..."

! E.M. Dowding et al. (2026): The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology's digital databases. Open access, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 10: 594�605. See here as well (in PDF).
"... we conducted a survey of 118 palaeontological and allied Earth science databases, analysing their diversity dynamics, including origination and extinction rates. We show that approximately 85% of all community-curated databases have lifespans of less than 15 years, putting decades of investment at risk. We show that database creation effort has increased in the past 30 years, with peaks in database loss related to 5-year funding cycles.
[...] The path forward requires a collective effort, sustained funding and a commitment to collaboration, ensuring that palaeontological data remain valuable resources for future generations ..."

! L. Portailler and L. Luthardt (2026): Shoot apical meristem and initial vascular development of a late Palaeozoic spermatophyte (order Medullosales). Free access, Annals of Botany, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf336.
"... We re-examine historical sections of a stem apex of Medullosa stellata Cotta, 1832
[...] The complex vascular system of M. stellata results from the primary stem thickening and the corresponding position of the leaf primordia. The comparison with extant cycads demonstrates that similar stem anatomical features of both clades are likely to be referred to functional analogies of the vascular systems ..."

J.B. Riding and M.J. Pound (2026): Michael Charles Boulter (1942�2025). In PDF, Palynology, 50. DOI: 10.1080/01916122.2026.2634553. Note likewise here (Wikipedia).

A.M.C. Bowles and J. Paps (2025): The genomes of flowering plants reveal contrasting evolutionary paths in monocots and eudicots. In PDF, https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7464600/v1. See here as well.
"... starting with 1,181 genomes, we have selected and analysed 273 archaeplastid genomes, to produce a novel, robustly supported angiosperm phylogeny
[...] The origin of monocots was accompanied by a period of reductive genome evolution while the first eudicot genomes experienced modest rates of gene duplication
[...] angiosperms reached a core genomic diversity early in their evolutionary history, corresponding to their high floral diversity ..."

! C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2026): An arbuscular mycorrhiza from the 407-million-year-old Windyfield Chert identified through advanced fluorescence and Raman imaging. Open access, New Phytologist, 249: 448-459. oi: 10.1111/nph.70655. See likewise here.
"... we combine confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to investigate a newly identified fungus and cellular structures of a 407-Myr-old plant from the Windyfield Chert
[...] These findings expand our understanding of ancient and extremely rare plant�fungal sym- bioses and highlight the potential of confocal-FLIM for advancing palaeobotanical research. ..."

P. Kenrick and E.J. Long (2026): Transfer cells in Horneophyton lignieri illuminate the origin of vascular tissues in land plants. Free access, New Phytologist, 249: 3149-3164.
Note figure 1: Horneophyton lignieri habit and sampling of vascular tissues.
"... We show that the vascular system of H. lignieri lacks distinct xylem and phloem tissues, contrary to prior assumptions. Instead, tissues with transfer cell-like structures are prominent ..."

M.P. D'antonio and C.K. Boyce (2026): Structural and physiological constraints on arborescent lycopsid establishment and growth. Free access, New Phytologist, 249: 1605�1617.
"... a fossil specimen preserving both proximal and distal vascular anatomy of a single lycopsid tree was studied to compare proximal and distal trunk hydraulic conductivity
[...] We propose a new model that, despite its unusual nature, agrees with all available evidence: sequentially larger stigmarian rooting axes must have been serially produced as the unipolar plant body grew upward and expanded its primary body during early ontogeny, thereby bypassing the proximal shoot ..."

! O.T. Akinsanpe et al. (2025): Biomarkers in terrestrial organic matter from the Lower Devonian to Oligocene: Evidence from selected regions of the laurasian supercontinent. Open access, Evolving Earth, 3.
Note figure 4: Evolution of terrestrial plants [...] and sample ages where authors have previously detected terrestrial plant biomarkers.
"... Biomarkers and biomarker-based parameters have been employed in this paper as a geochemical tracer to understand the Laurasian Super continent geological and paleoenvironmental processes, and to recon struct paleobotanic (paleovegetation) evolution via their structural configurations (carbon skeletons)
[...] The study has enhanced our understanding of the organic matter provenance, terrestrialisation process, and spatiotemporal evolution of higher plants across different geological settings ...

D. Quiroz-Cabascango et al. (2025): Earliest Jurassic plant assemblages from Sweden reveal a low-diversity ginkgoalean and cheirolepid flora dominating the post-extinction landscape. Free access, Annals of Botany, mcaf143. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf143.
"... typical Lower Jurassic macrofloral and palynological assemblages that provide a glimpse into the recovery flora following the end-Triassic mass extinction in a middle�high latitude setting. This pioneer flora, dominated by Ginkgoopsida and cheirolepid conifers (well preserved Brachyphyllum and abundant Classopollis minor), has features in common with coeval recovery ecosystems ..."

X. Zhao et al. (2025): Climate�carbon-cycle interactions and spatial heterogeneity of the late Triassic Carnian pluvial episode. In PDF, Nature Communications. See likewise here
Note figure 4: Simulated climate states before and during the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE).
"... We find that the rapid CPE [Carnian Pluvial Episode] onset (~15.8 kyr) could have been the result of volcanism and subsequent surface carbon-cycle feedbacks.
[...] The CPE hydrological cycle was typified by increased aridification in continental interiors and multiple precipitation centres at low-latitude eastern regions of Pangea and at the poles ..."

! H. Nakayama and N.R. Sinha (2025): Leaf evolution: integrating phylogenetics, developmental dynamics, and genetic insights across land plants. Free access, New Phytologist, 248: 2205-2220.
Note figure 2: Plant diversification and leaf evolution in the context of the fossil record of land plants.
"... In this review, we focus on the current understanding of leaf evolution by integrating phylogenetic relationships, the developmental dynamics of the shoot apical meristem � the site of leaf initiation � and comparative analyses of leaf morphogenesis ..."

! A.P. Storari et al. (2025): Taphonomy of aquatic insects from the Crato Formation Lagerstätte (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) under an actualistic look. Open access, Plos one, 20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331656.
"... we analyze the preservation of mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and dragonflies (Odonata) from this formation using experimental taphonomy on 253 extant Ephemeroptera and 236 Odonata, alongside 306 fossil specimens. Disarticulation experiments showed that the thorax of modern mayfly larvae disarticulated first
[...] Dragonfly carcasses exhibited a characteristic leg posture in death
[...] we can safely propose with experimental data that microbial biofilms on the surface of the water were acting during carcass sinking ..."

J. Rust and V.E. McCoy (2026): Fossilisation ecology � a more complete concept of taphonomy Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 40: 942-944. Free access,
Note the given explanations in the glossary.
"... In many cases, the fossil assemblages that comprise a Fossil-Lagerstätte show patterns that cannot be understood when considered only through the traditional taphonomic lens
[...] we propose the concept of fossilisation ecology, which extends taphonomy by formalising the idea that the ecology of an organism may affect its fossilisation ..."

! R. Spiekermann et al. (2026): Charcoalified wood remains from the Madygen Fossil-Lagerstätte (SW Kyrgyzstan): Evidence of wildfire in the Triassic (Ladinian�Carnian) mid-northern latitudes. Free access, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 351.
Note figure 13: Palaeogeographical distribution of published palaeo-wildfire records for the Ladinian�Carnian interval.
"... In this study, we present a detailed description of charcoalified gymnosperm wood remains
[...] This finding extends the current wildfire record for the studied interval and, together with the updated database of palaeo-wildfire proxies presented herein, suggests that such a phenomenon eventually occurred throughout the entire Ladinian and Carnian time span ..."

! J. Chen et al. (2026): Triassic�Jurassic environmental instability on the subtropical eastern Tethyan margin linked to low-latitude dinosaur dispersal. Free access, Communication Earth & Environ, 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03083-6. See here as well.
! Note figure 3: Stratigraphic correlation across the Triassic�Jurassic boundary (TJB) between the studied WK23-1 drill core from the Wande section and globally recognized reference sections.
"... we present an integrated dataset of chemostratigraphic and astrochronological records for a continental drill core
[...] Three negative carbon isotope excursions coupled with volcanogenic mercury anomalies confirm pulsed volcanism-induced environmental impacts on this subtropical terrestrial setting and placement of the Triassic�Jurassic boundary [...] Large-scale volcanism-induced stressors, potentially coupled with increased climate seasonality, likely created ecological opportunities facilitating dinosaur expansion in the Earliest Jurassic ..."

T.B. dos Santos et al. (2026): An early Permian Euramerican plant assemblage in northwestern Gondwana: The plant-arthropod interactions of the Costela Mine locality, northeastern Brazil. Open access, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 690.
"...The Costela Mine plant assemblage of the Pedra de Fogo Formation includes representatives from the Euramerican Floristic Realm, such as the callipterid peltasperms Rhachiphyllum sp. and Auritifolia-like foliage
[...] Herbivory recorded at the Costela Mine plant assemblage is represented by eight functional feeding groups, 15 damage types, and 72 recorded feeding event occurrences ..."