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Paleobotany and Plant Evolution

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Figures (10)

Angiosperm life cycle
The evolution of syncarps. a: sporangia borne at tips of leaf b: Leaf curls up to protect sporangia c: leaf curls to form enclosed roll d: grouping of three rolls into a syncarp
The C4 carbon concentrating mechanism
A fossil Betula leopoldae (birch) leaf from the Early Eocene of Washington state, approximately 49 million years ago
An unpolished hand sample of the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert from Scotland
Ginkgoites huttonii, Middle Jurassic, Yorkshire, UK. Leaves preserved as compressions. Specimen in Munich Palaeontological Museum, Germany.
Crossotheca hughesiana Kidston, Middle Pennsylvanian, Coseley, near Dudley, UK. A lyginopteridalean pollen organ preserved as an authigenic mineralization (mineralized in situ). Specimen in Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, UK.
Lycopod axis (branch) from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin.
External mold of Lepidodendron from the Upper Carboniferous of Ohio.
A late Silurian sporangium, artificially colored. Green: A spore tetrad. Blue: A spore bearing a trilete mark – the Y-shaped scar. The spores are about 30–35 μm across.

Key Points

  • Paleobotany is important in the reconstruction of ancient ecological and climate systems, known as paleoecology and paleoclimatology respectively.
  • Organs, tissues and cells of vascular plants Although non-vascular plants are clearly successful, existing and thriving in most terres­ trial habitats, their size and activity is impacted by their limited ability to grow upwards.
  • Spore reproduction is cheap and efficient but as birth control is not available, results are unpredictable.
  • A seed is the result of enforced control of the sporophyte over the gametophyte.
  • The cuticle is a com­ plex mix of chemicals including cutin (mentioned above as a component of some cell walls) and other similar (hydrophobic) constituents.
  • In most cases, the lower epidermis contains more stomata than the upper epidermis because the bottom of the leaf is cooler and transpiration there is safer.

Terms

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