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).

! L. Burgener et al. (2026): An illusion of equability: Paleoclimate proxies, environmental variability, and temperature seasonality in greenhouse worlds. Free access, GSA Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/B38825.1.
"... Our study suggests that one of the key components of the Equable Climate Problem�reduced greenhouse continental MART [mean annual range in temperature]�is based in part on the flawed assumption that MART is characterized by a simple latitudinal trend
[...] The variability observed in different proxy MART reconstructions, particularly during greenhouse periods like the Cretaceous and early Eocene, likely reflects real climate variability in complex ancient environments ..."

! L.M. Cooper and A.J. Hetherington (2026): Phloem evolved gradually and asynchronously to xylem in early vascular plants. Free access, Current Biology, 36: 415�3424.
Note figure 1: The FCCs [food-conducting cells] of the Rhynie chert plants grade into the cortical tissue, and there is no pericycle between the FCCs and the cortex
"... putative sieve pores in the FCCs of Asteroxylon mackiei were identified. This represents, to our knowledge, the earliest record of sieve pores in the fossil record. Our results suggest an evolutionary scenario in which phloem features assembled gradually within FCCs, asynchronous to the evolution of xylem ..."

P.J. Vayda et al. (2026): Ediacaran-type Vendotaenid macroalgae in an Ordovician Lagerstätte. Open access, Lethaia, 59. https://doi.org/10.18261/let.59.2.14.
"... Abundant noncalcified macroalgae with tubular, unbranching thalli are reported from the newly discovered Cabrières Biota of France, a Lagerstätte in the Landeyran Formation of the Montagne Noire, which represents Early Ordovician life in a polar region ..."

R.R. Gaines and M.L. Droser (2025): Fossil Lagerstätten and the enigma of anactualistic fossil preservation. Open access, Paleobiology, 51: 29-43. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2024.38.
"... we focus on anactualistic preservation and the widely recognized overrepresentation of Konservat-Lagerstätten in the Ediacaran and early Paleozoic. While exceptional fossil deposits of Ediacaran, Cambrian, and Early Ordovician age encompass a number of modes of fossilization, the signal of exceptional preservation is driven by only two modes, Ediacara-type and Burgess Shale�type preservation. Both are �extinct� modes of fossilization ..."

! H.I. Petersen et al. (2027): A relationship between biochar reflectance and carbonization temperature. Free access, Fuel, 428.
"... This study presents a correlation between the mean random reflectance, Ro, of biochar and the carbonization temperature (CT) based on a series of biochar produced from wheat straw, rice straw, and rice husk at seven maximum heating temperatures ..."

M.G. Laurin et al. (2026): Kungurian extinctions in eupelycosaurs: a press�pulse event? In PDF, Paleobiology, 1�15. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2026.10102. See here as well.
"... Our analysis of an updated dataset that includes 50 terminal taxa and 175 fossil occurrences of Ophiacodontidae, Edaphosauridae, and Sphenacodontidae (OES grade hereafter) using a recent implementation of the skyline fossilized birth�death model (FBD hereafter) confirms our previous conclusion that the OES grade diversified during the latter half of the Pennsylvanian but waned thereafter
[...] Our new analyses confirm the presence of a mild extinction event near the Carboniferous/Permian boundary in synapsids ..."

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 ..."

K. Wolkenstein et al. (2026): Phytochemical Screening of 45-Million-Year-Old Colored Angiosperm Leaves Reveals Distinctive Chlorophyll-Derived and Polyphenolic Pigments. In PDF, Geobiology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gbi.70042. See here as well.
"... We show that diverse chlorophyll derivatives and degradation products as well as polyphenolic pigments are preserved in green to yellow colored angiosperm leaves and the brown coal matrix from Geiseltal
[...] Our results demonstrate the potential of paleometabolomic-like screening of individual plant fossils to trace the fate of phytochemical constituents and to understand the processes of fossilization at the molecular level ..."

Y. Cao et al. (2026): A ~0.5 Myr perturbation of carbon and mercury cycles during the Middle Triassic biotic radiation. In PDF, Science Advances, 12. See likewise here.
Note figure 1: Paleogeographic reconstruction of the Anisian, Middle Triassic.
Figure 4: Environmental changes and biodiversity variations in Anisian, Middle Triassic.
"... This study presents carbon isotopes, mercury (Hg) concentrations, and Hg isotope data from Anisian (mainly Pelsonian substage) marine and terrestrial sections across the Tethys. Our results reveal a widespread Hg enrichment event that is synchronous with the Pelsonian negative carbon isotope excursion ..."

P. Zhang et al. (2026): Repeated pulses of volcanism drove terrestrial vegetation and climate changes during the late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode in North China. Free access, Global and Planetary Change, 258.
"... we investigated high-resolution palynological data through the CPE [Carnian Pluvial Episode] from the Jiyuan terrestrial Basin in North China. Our data reveal four distinct phases of terrestrial vegetation transition from xerophytes to hygrophytes, with each shift accompanied by pronounced climate transformations from relatively cool-dry to relatively warm-humid conditions ..."

E. Kustatscher et al. (2018): Flora of the Late Triassic. PDF file, in: Tanner, L. [ed.]: The Late Triassic World: Earth in a Time of Transition. Topics in Geobiology, 46: 545-622, (Springer). See also here.

S. Tremblay and J. Mercadal (2025): Homology of the dark cells of Paleozoic liverworts with the specialized oil body cells of modern liverworts (Marchantiophyta). In PDF, New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71332. See likewise here.
"... The Middle Devonian Metzgeriothallus sharonae provides an opportunity for comparison with modern liverworts
[...] The observations with SEM, light, and stereo microscopy are consistent with a physical and chemical similarity between the fossil dark cells and oil body cells of modern liverworts ..."

Z. Feng (2026): Mass extinctions and land plant evolution. Free access, Current Biology, 36. See likewise here (in PDF):
"The stepwise vegetation developments after the extinction of the Cathaysian Flora, documented uniquely in the South China Block, provide a crucial template for understanding how terrestrial ecosystems rebuild after catastrophic collapse. It underscores the interplay of extinction selectivity, survivor adaptations, and the long timescales involved in restoring ecological complexity ..."

B.E. Boudinot et al. (2026): Fossil gaps, ghost lineages, and 'major extinction events'. In PDF, Current Biology, Current Biology 36. See here as well.
Note figure 1: The inferred three Mesozoic extinctions of Hymenoptera are likely artefacts of pulsed sampling in the fossil record and overlook the major End Permian event.
Worth checking out: C. Jouault et al. (2026): Response to Boudinot et al. In PDF, Current Biology, 36. See likewise here.
"... The critique of our study draws attention to important and known issues in quantitative paleontology and macroevolution, including preservational bias, model overfitting, and deep-time ghost lineages ..."

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. ..."