Plant Fossils: The History of Land Vegetation (Fossils Illustrated)

410 Pages·1999·2.71 MB·English

by  Christopher J. Cleal

Plant Fossils : The History of Land
title: Vegetation Fossils Illustrated, 0960-8664 ;
V. 3
author: Cleal, Christopher J.; Thomas, Barry A.
publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
isbn10 | asin: 0851156843
print isbn13: 9780851156842
ebook isbn13: 9780585213866
language: English
subject Paleobotany, Plants, Fossil.
publication date: 1999
lcc: QE905.C55 1999eb
ddc: 561
subject: Paleobotany, Plants, Fossil.
Page i
F I
OSSILS LLUSTRATED
Volume 3
Plant Fossils
Page ii
F I
OSSILS LLUSTRATED
ISSN 0960-0014
Series Editors
Douglas Palmer and Barrie Rickards
Volume 1
GRAPTOLITES: WRITING IN THE ROCKS
edited by
Douglas Palmer and Barrie Rickards
Volume 2
TRILOBITES
H. B. Whittington
Page iii
PLANT FOSSILS
THE HISTORY OF LAND VEGETATION
CHRISTOPHER J. CLEAL
BARRY A. THOMAS
THE BOYDELL PRESS
Page iv
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© Christopher J. Cleal and Barry A. Thomas 1999
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no
part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 1999
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 0 85115 684 3
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604-0016, USA
website: http://www.boydell.co.uk
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cleal, Christopher J.
Plant fossils: the history of land vegetation / Christopher J.
Cleal, Barry A. Thomas.
p. cm. - (Fossils illustrated, ISSN 0960-0014; v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-00115-001-3 (alk. paper)
1. Paleobotany. 2. Plants, Fossil. I. Thomas, Barry A.
II. Title. III. Series.
QE905.C55 1999
561-dc21 99-00137
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Great Britain by
St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Page v
Contents
General Editor's Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Chapter One 1
Introduction
Chapter Two 11
Early land plants
Chapter Three 27
Club-mosses
Chapter Four 40
Horsetails
Chapter Five 50
Ferns
Chapter Six 62
Early seed plants
Chapter Seven 82
Modern seed plants
Chapter Eight 98
Flowering plants
Chapter Nine 108
History of land vegetation
Chapter Ten 120
Highlights of palaeobotanical study
Appendix 1 138
Classification of vascular plants
Appendix 2 147
Further reading
Explanations of Plates 1-128 156
Index 181
Plates 189
Page vii
General Editor's Preface
Without plants, life on Earth, as we know it, would not exist. Plants
have played a central role in the evolution of life and the colonisation
of land. And yet the fossil history of plants is not well known, even to
many scientists, beyond a general knowledge that coal is formed of
fossil plant material. The evolution of the Earth's flora has had its
vicissitudes just as much as that of the fauna. New groups of plants
have come and gone, there have been radiations and extinctions.
Overall there has been a major change in the domination of plant life
from the evolution of primitive vascular plants some 400 million years
ago. These first land plants were tiny leafless stems which only grew
upright for a few centimeters and were restricted to lowlying
waterlogged habitats. Cleal and Thomas tell the remarkable story of
how, from these unpromising beginnings, the whole of Earth's flora
has evolved. Each of the major groups of plants is described in
general order of appearance in the record. The history develops
through the first giant club-mosses, horsetails and ferns, which
contributed so much to the first forests on Earth and the economically
famous coal deposits of Carboniferous times. By the time the
dinosaurs took over, in the Mesozoic Era, landscapes were dominated
by coniferophytes and pteridophytes. In turn these were displaced as
the angiosperms and large plant eating mammals finally burst into
dominance in the Tertiary some 60 million years ago.
'Plant Fossils' tells this remarkable 400 million year history of land
vegetation and its photographically illustrates it with a generous
selection of fossil plant portraits. Most of these photographs of fossil
plants have never been seen before, outside of academic journals and
represent an international sample of the plant record. The authors also
tell of the scientists who have contributed to the development of this
story and hazard some predictions about the directions which future
research may take.
As professional palaeobotanists, Chris Cleal and Barry Thomas have
made life-time studies of ancient flora and are ideally placed to tell
this remarkable story. They are well known researchers (Dr Cleal at
the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff and Professor
Thomas at the University of Wales Lampeter) within the very active
international community of palaeobotanists and consequently are able
to present the most up-to-date view and interpretation of the fossil
record. The authors have benefitted from the cooperation of their
colleagues around the world, especially those in North America, who
have generously provided many of the photographs. The book reflects
the truly international story of fossil plants.