Plants in Mesozoic Time

by Gee, Carole T.; Kranz, Dorothea

• ISBN13: 9780253354563
• ISBN10: 0253354560
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-07-16
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Plants in Mesozoic Time showcases the latest research of broad botanical and paleontological interest from the world's experts on Mesozoic plant life. Each chapter covers a special aspect of a particular plant group -- ranging from horsetails to ginkgophytes, from cycads to conifers -- and relates it to key innovations in structure, phylogenetic relationships, the Mesozoic flora, or to animals such as plant-eating dinosaurs. The book's geographic scope ranges from Antarctica and Argentina to the western interior of North America, with studies on the reconstruction of the Late Jurassic vegetation of the Morrison Formation and on fossil angiosperm lianas from Late Cretaceous deposits in Utah and New Mexico. The volume also includes cutting-edge studies on the evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") of Mesozoic forests, the phylogenetic analysis of the still enigmatic bennettitaleans, and the genetic developmental controls of the oldest flowers in the fossil record.

Author Biography

Carole T. Gee is Senior Research Scientist in Paleobotany, Division of Paleontology at the Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.

Table of Contents

Preface, Dedication, and Acknowledgments	p. xi
The Career of Ted Delevoryas: Appreciation and Publications
Morphological Innovations in Mesozoic Plants
Architectural Innovation and Developmental Controls in Some Mesozoic Gymnosperms, or, Why Do The Leaf Crowns in Mesozoic Forests Look Tufted?	p. 5
Modern Traits in Early Mesozoic Sphenophytes: The Equisetum-like Cones of Spaciinodum collinsonii with In Situ Spores and Elaters from the Middle Triassic of Antarctica	p. 15
Pollen and Coprolite Structure in Cycadeoidea (Bennettitales): Implications for Understanding Pollination and Mating Systems in Mesozoic Cycadeoids	p. 35
Independent Evolution of Seed Enclosure in the Bennettitales: Evidence from the Anatomically Preserved Cone Foxeoidea connatum gen. et sp. nov.	p. 51
A Mosaic of Characters in a New Whole-Plant Araucaria, A. delevoryasii Gee sp. nov., from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, U.S.A.	p. 67
Major Innovations in Angiosperm Evolution	p. 97
Implications of Fossil Floral Data on Understanding the Early Evolution of Molecular Developmental Controls of Flowers	p. 119
Phylogeny of Mesozoic Plants
Late Triassic Ginkgoleans of North America	p. 173
Review of the Cycads and Bennettitaleans from the Mesozoic of Argentina	p. 187
The Bennettitales (Cycadeoidales): A Preliminary Perspective on This Arguably Enigmatic Group	p. 215
Endemism of Early Cretaceous Conifers in Western Gondwana	p. 247
Oldest Known Dicotyledonous Lianas from the Early Late Cretaceous of Utah and New Mexico, U.S.A.	p. 271
Ecosystems and Mesozoic Plants
Palynological Evidence for Conifer Dominance within a Heterogeneous Landscape in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, U.S.A.	p. 295
Mesozoic Plants and Dinosaur Herbivory	p. 331
Contributors	p. 361
Index	p. 365
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