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).

! G.E. Mustoe (2026): Microscopy of Macrofossils: Techniques from Geology. Free access, Fossil Studies, 4.
"... This paper emphasizes inexpensive methods for researchers who want to expand their microscopy horizons without needing deep funding or access to specialized facilities ..."

R. Chu et al. (2025): Orbital eccentricity and internal feedbacks drove the Triassic megamonsoon variability. Free access, Scientific Reports. See likewise here (in PDF).
Note figure 1: Simulated global monsoon regions and geological records with well-preserved orbital-scale megamonsoonal dynamics.
"... Our temporally calibrated, orbitally resolved reconstruction of the lake hydroclimate variations in the Ordos Basin, spanning from ~ 246 to 239 Ma, in tandem with our climate simulations, provides key insights into the behavior of the monsoon hydrologic cycle in the Tethys region during the Middle Triassic ..."

Fossil Studies .
Fossil Studies - formerly Fossils - is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on all aspects of palaeontology published quarterly online by MDPI ("Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute", a major Switzerland-based publisher).

P.X. Wang et al. (2017): The global monsoon across time scales: Mechanisms and outstanding issues Earth-Science Reviews, 174: 84-121. See likewise here.
"... The present paper addresses driving mechanisms of global monsoon (GM) variability and outstanding issues in GM science
[...] The primary driver of the GM is solar insolation, and the specific features in the underlying surface, such as land-sea distribution, topography, and oceanic circulations, are mainly responsible for the differences among regional monsoon systems ..."

! B. Hönisch et al. (2023): Toward a Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO₂. The Cenozoic CO₂ Proxy Integration Project (CenCO₂PIP) Consortium.
In PDF, Science, 382: eadi5177. See here and there as well.
! Note figure 1: Documentation and assessment of all Cenozoic paleo-CO₂ estimates published to date.
"... The Cenozoic Carbon dioxide Proxy Integration Project (CenCO₂PIP) Consortium assessed a comprehensive collection of proxy determinations to define the atmospheric carbon dioxide record for the past 66 million years. This synthesis provides the most complete record yet available ..."

Talline Martins and Heidi Hillhouse, Systematics Seminar, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin:
Major Evolutionary Transitions, Transitional Fossils (Powerpoint presentatation). Including the evolution of vascular plants, Cooksonia as an example.
Retrieved from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

! J. Stenlund et al. (2026): Visualisation of deep evolutionary time: looking back and looking forward. Open access, Journal of Biological Education, 60. See here as well (in PDF).
Note figure 1: A visualisation of influential and pioneering contributions and corresponding visual communication of DET [Deep Evolutionary Time] relative to scientific discovery over time from recent (left) towards older (right) events.

Zentrales Geo-Archiv, Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt:
Cyclotosaurus ebrachensis. In German.
The central geo-archive of the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) holds an extraordinary treasure from Earth's history: Cyclotosaurus ebrachensis, an amphibian from the germanotype Keuper (Coburger Sandstein, Carnian, Triassic) of the Steigerwald, Frankonia.

A. Carta et al. (2024): The seed morphospace, a new contribution towards the multidimensional study of angiosperm sexual reproductive biology. In PDF, Annals of Botany, 134: 701�710. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae099.
See likewise here.
Note figure 1: Morphological diversity of seeds and fruits.
Table 1: Key morphological traits used to construct the seed morphospace, their functional role and relevant data sources/references.
"... we present a roadmap to synthesize the diversity of seed forms in extant angiosperms, relying on the morphospace concept
[...] we outline challenges and future research directions, combining the morphospace with macroevolutionary comparative methods to underline the drivers that gave rise to the diversity of observed seed forms ..."

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.
"... Biomarkers and biomarker-based parameters have been employed in this paper as a geochemical tracer to understand the Laurasian Supercontinent geological and paleoenvironmental processes, and to reconstruct paleobotanic (paleovegetation) evolution via their structural configurations (carbon skeletons), which evolve over geological time and alter by burial diagenesis and thermal stress ..."

! J.A. Trotter et al. (2015): Long-term cycles of Triassic climate change: a new d18O record from conodont apatite. In PDF, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 415: 165�174. See also here.
! Please note figure 3: Schematic showing best-estimate d¹⁸O_phosN composite curve for surface waters of the Tethyan subtropics, together with major geo- and bio-events through the Triassic.
"... This record shows several major, first order, negative shifts reflecting intense warming episodes, not only the well-known extreme PTB�Early Triassic event (~5?), but also two large cycles of similar magnitude (~1.5, ~1.7?) and duration (~7 Myrs) during the late Carnian and late Norian. Between the PTB�Early Triassic and Carnian major episodes, three rapid shorterterm warming events of decreasing magnitude punctuate the mid�late Anisian, early Ladinian, and latest Ladinian, with distinct cooler (i.e. favourable) intervals characterising the early Anisian and early Carnian, indicating a fluctuating but ameliorating Middle Triassic climate trend. Two long periods of sustained cooler conditions occurred during the Late Triassic, for much of the Norian and Rhaetian.

! R.M. Bateman et al. (2026): Early evolutionary history of the seed. Open access, Biological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/brv.70134. See here as well (PDF file).
"... We reappraise knowledge of the evolutionary history of the gymnospermous seed, from its origin in the late Devonian
[...] The framework for our broader discussions is a novel cladistic analysis of anatomically preserved Palaeozoic seeds, analysing 79 seed-species for 89 morphological characters ..."

! H.K. Garza et al. (2024): Detrital U-Pb ages for the first well-preserved vascular plant Cooksonia from the UK and Irish macrofossil record. Open access, Geological Magazine, 161: 1�15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756824000384
Please note figure 9: Paleogeographic reconstruction during Early to Late Silurian.
"... the timing of Cooksonia�s terrestrial emergence remains elusive as phylogenetic models, microfossils and macrofossils provide different timings for land colonization by vascular plants
[...] Cwm Graig Ddu (Wales) yields a (Pridoli-Ludlow) maximum age of 423 ± 3 Ma. The findings provide the first detrital zircon U-Pb dates for the oldest Cooksonia macrofossils globally ...

M.W. Hounslow et al. (2025): Omission and pacing of events at the Norian�Rhaetian and Triassic�Jurassic transitions in Britain. open access, Geological Magazine, 162: 1�27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756825100162.
"... Magnetostratigraphy, palynology and ammonite biochronology of the Staithes S-20 core are used in an integrated evaluation of the late Norian to early Hettangian successions in Britain.
[...] An eco-plant model assessment of the miospores indicates greater proportions of eurythermic and europhyte floras, suggesting stronger seasonality in palaeoclimate was probably a key factor in the end-Triassic extinction ..."

! M.P. D'antonio and C.K. Boyce (2025): Structural and physiological constraints on arborescent lycopsid establishment and growth: Free access, New Phytologist, 249: 1605-1617.
Note figure 7: Arboreous lycopsid trunk base with overlapping stigmarian axes.
"... 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 demonstrate that existing ontogenetic models could not have applied to arborescent lycopsid ontogeny. We propose a new model that, despite its unusual nature, agrees with all available evidence ..."

A. Capobianco (2025): How many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny?. In PDF, Biology Letters, See likewise here.
"... I designed a simulation study in the software RevBayes to explore how the number of sampled discrete characters affects accuracy and precision of Bayesian phylogenetic estimates
[...] Results indicate that between 100 and 500 variable characters are necessary to reach sufficient accuracy and precision of phylogenetic estimates for as low as 20 tips ..."

M. Saccò et al. (2021): Salt to conserve: a review on the ecology and preservation of hypersaline ecosystems. In PDF, Biological Reviews, 96: 2828-2850. See likewise here.
Note figure 1: Worldwide distribution of salt lake areas.
! Figure 2: Main ecological routes in hypersaline systems.
"... In fact, despite occupying almost half of the volume of inland waters and providing crucial services to humanity and nature, inland saline ecosystems are often overlooked ..."

! T. McKie and B. Kilhams (2025): Triassic. PDF file, In: Ten Veen, J.H., Vis, G.-J., De Jager, J. & Wong, Th.E. (eds): Geology of the Netherlands, second edition. Amsterdam University Press (Amsterdam): 155-183. DOI: 10.5117/9789463728362_ch05.
! You can download the entire book as a PDF file free of charge!

T. Theurer et al. (2025): Disentangling the multi-phase alteration of fossil charcoals: A cautionary tale from the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Free access, Global and Planetary Change, 254.
"... Our Raman spectroscopic investigation of palaeocharcoal from the Isle of Mull (Scotland), entrained within a lahar deposit that has undergone intrusion, reveals geothermometric discrepancies and spectral features consistent with microstructural modification ..."

! P.R. Crane (2026): Birbal Sahni Introduces the Pentoxyleae. Free access, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 186.
"... Continuing to regard the Pentoxylon plant as �an extinct gymnosperm of unknown affinity� [...] is clearly unsatisfactory, but more targeted research is needed to come to a more helpful conclusion. Crucial will be careful investigations of better preserved fossil material and especially a more detailed understanding of the homologies of seed structure, not only in Carnoconites but also in Bennettitales as well as other plants, such as Lindtheca and Nataligma ..."

C.C. Loron et al. (2026): Prototaxites fossils are structurally and chemically distinct from extinct and extant Fungi. Free access, Science Advances, 12.
Note figure 1M: Artist reconstruction of P. taiti within the Rhynie ecosystem including hypothesized reconstruction of the aerial portion.
Figure 4: The morphology, metabolism, ecology, and chemistry of Prototaxites preclude its placement in known crown lineages of multicellular eukaryotes.
"... Prototaxites was the first giant organism to live on the terrestrial surface
[...] We report that fossils of Prototaxites taiti from the 407-million-year-old Rhynie chert were chemically distinct from contemporaneous Fungi and structurally distinct from all known Fungi. This finding casts doubt upon the fungal affinity of Prototaxites, instead suggesting that this enigmatic organism is best assigned to an entirely extinct eukaryotic lineage ..."