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A History of Plants in Fifty Fossils

Author : Paul Kenrick

Publisher : Smithsonian Institution

Page : 158 pages

File Size : 32,89 MB

Release : 2020-03-20

Category : Nature

ISBN : 1588346714

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Book Description

An illustrated history of plants presented through the stories of 50 key fossil discoveries This is the lively, fully illustrated story of plant life on Earth as revealed through some of the most significant fossil discoveries ever made. Beginning with the origins of plant life in the sea, where photosynthesis first evolved in bacteria, the book traces the evolution of land plants, ferns, conifers and their relatives, and flowering plants. Each fossil is depicted with stunning full-color photography alongside narrative from paleobotanist Paul Kenrick explaining its significance and revealing the story behind its discovery. Interspersed throughout the book are contextual "snapshots" of landscapes and environments at various periods of geological time, focusing on plants and plant-animal interactions. A History of Plants in Fifty Fossils is perfect for anyone interested in plants, fossils, and the stories they tell us about life on Earth.



Paleozoic Fossil Plants

Author : Bruce L. Stinchcomb

Publisher : Schiffer Publishing

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 46,42 MB

Release : 2013

Category : Nature

ISBN : 9780764343278

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Book Description

Over 670 color photos reveal the Paleozoic plants that covered the earth from 500 to 260 million years ago, well before the dinosaurs roamed the world. These plants provide some of the earliest records to the greening of planet earth. They also make fascinating, very attractive fossils, which can be considered as "nature's artwork." The fossil record provides a window into the first "forests" of the Devonian Period, followed by the peculiar plants of the Lower Carboniferous. These plants, in turn, were followed by those of the Upper Carboniferous, abundant vegetation that is responsible for almost half of the planet's coal seams. Coal swamp vegetation is followed by the more sparse Permian floras, which preceded what was the earth's most profound extinction event. Marine plants also make their appearance in the world during this period, as do various puzzling fossil tracks and burrows previously thought to be marine plant fossils. This book is for all who are curious about the ancient earth.





Fossil Plants and Spores

Author : Tim P. Jones

Publisher : Geological Society of London

Page : 420 pages

File Size : 23,6 MB

Release : 1999

Category : Paleobotany

ISBN : 9781862390355

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Fossil Plants

Author : Paul Kenrick

Publisher :

Page : 216 pages

File Size : 25,96 MB

Release : 2004

Category : Paleobotany

ISBN : 9780565091767

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Book Description

"This guide to fossil plants explains the lives of these ancient plants, how they came to be fossilized, and what they may tell us about the past. Kenrick and Davis trace the evolution of land plants, ferns, and conifers and their relatives, the flowering plants. Weaving together strands from the past and present, the snapshots of ancient and modern environments are illustrated with images of fossils and their "living relatives." With photographs of the delicate pieces of shale that hold the fossils, the authors explore the hidden past of plants and uncover the breadth of form and rare beauty of plants turned to stone."--BOOK JACKET.



Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants

Author : Wilson N. Stewart

Publisher : Cambridge University Press

Page : 544 pages

File Size : 14,97 MB

Release : 1993-02-26

Category : Science

ISBN : 9780521382946

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Book Description

This 1993 textbook describes and explains the origin and evolution of plants as revealed by the fossil record.



Introduction to Plant Fossils

Author : Christopher J. Cleal

Publisher : Cambridge University Press

Page : 264 pages

File Size : 21,6 MB

Release : 2019-06-30

Category : Science

ISBN : 9781108705028

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Book Description

Plant remains can preserve a critical part of history of life on Earth. While telling the fascinating evolutionary story of plants and vegetation across the last 500 million years, this book also crucially offers non-specialists a practical guide to studying, dealing with and interpreting plant fossils. It shows how various techniques can be used to reveal the secrets of plant fossils and how to identify common types, such as compressions and impressions. Incorporating the concepts of evolutionary floras, this second edition includes revised data on all main plant groups, the latest approaches to naming plant fossils using fossil-taxa and techniques such as tomography. With extensive illustrations of plant fossils and living plants, the book encourages readers to think of fossils as once-living organisms. It is written for students on introductory or intermediate courses in palaeobotany, palaeontology, plant evolutionary biology and plant science, and for amateurs interested in studying plant fossils.



Locked in Time

Author : Dean R. Lomax

Publisher : Columbia University Press

Page : 424 pages

File Size : 32,46 MB

Release : 2021-05-18

Category : Science

ISBN : 0231552084

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Book Description

Fossils allow us to picture the forms of life that inhabited the earth eons ago. But we long to know more: how did these animals actually behave? We are fascinated by the daily lives of our fellow creatures—how they reproduce and raise their young, how they hunt their prey or elude their predators, and more. What would it be like to see prehistoric animals as they lived and breathed? From dinosaurs fighting to their deaths to elephant-sized burrowing ground sloths, this book takes readers on a global journey deep into the earth’s past. Locked in Time showcases fifty of the most astonishing fossils ever found, brought together in five fascinating chapters that offer an unprecedented glimpse at the real-life behaviors of prehistoric animals. Dean R. Lomax examines the extraordinary direct evidence of fossils captured in the midst of everyday action, such as dinosaurs sitting on their eggs like birds, Jurassic flies preserved while mating, a T. rex infected by parasites. Each fossil, he reveals, tells a unique story about prehistoric life. Many recall behaviors typical of animals familiar to us today, evoking the chain of evolution that links all living things to their distant ancestors. Locked in Time allows us to see that fossils are not just inanimate objects: they can record the life stories of creatures as fully alive as any today. Striking and scientifically rigorous illustrations by renowned paleoartist Bob Nicholls bring these breathtaking moments to life.



Fossil Fungi

Author : Thomas N Taylor

Publisher : Academic Press

Page : 401 pages

File Size : 26,75 MB

Release : 2014-08-14

Category : Science

ISBN : 0123877547

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Book Description

Fungi are ubiquitous in the world and responsible for driving the evolution and governing the sustainability of ecosystems now and in the past. Fossil Fungi is the first encyclopedic book devoted exclusively to fossil fungi and their activities through geologic time. The book begins with the historical context of research on fossil fungi (paleomycology), followed by how fungi are formed and studied as fossils, and their age. The next six chapters focus on the major lineages of fungi, arranging them in phylogenetic order and placing the fossils within a systematic framework. For each fossil the age and provenance are provided. Each chapter provides a detailed introduction to the living members of the group and a discussion of the fossils that are believed to belong in this group. The extensive bibliography (~ 2700 entries) includes papers on both extant and fossil fungi. Additional chapters include lichens, fungal spores, and the interactions of fungi with plants, animals, and the geosphere. The final chapter includes a discussion of fossil bacteria and other organisms that are fungal-like in appearance, and known from the fossil record. The book includes more than 475 illustrations, almost all in color, of fossil fungi, line drawings, and portraits of people, as well as a glossary of more than 700 mycological and paleontological terms that will be useful to both biologists and geoscientists. - First book devoted to the whole spectrum of the fossil record of fungi, ranging from Proterozoic fossils to the role of fungi in rock weathering - Detailed discussion of how fossil fungi are preserved and studied - Extensive bibliography with more than 2000 entries - Where possible, fungal fossils are placed in a modern systematic context - Each chapter within the systematic treatment of fungal lineages introduced with an easy-to-understand presentation of the main characters that define extant members - Extensive glossary of more than 700 entries that define both biological, geological, and mycological terminology



The Lost World of Fossil Lake

Author : Lance Grande

Publisher : University of Chicago Press

Page : 438 pages

File Size : 49,85 MB

Release : 2013-06-14

Category : Science

ISBN : 0226922960

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Book Description

The landscape of southwestern Wyoming around the ghost town of Fossil is beautiful but harsh; a dry, high mountain desert with cool nights and long, cold winters inhabited by a sparse mountain desert community. But during the early Eocene, more than fifty million years ago, it was a subtropical lake, surrounded by volcanoes and forests and teeming with life. Buried within the sun-baked limestone is spectacular evidence of the lush vegetation and plentiful fauna of the ancient past, a transitional ecosystem giving us clues to how North America recovered from a great extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs and the majority of all species on the planet. Paleontologists have been conducting excavations at Fossil Butte for more than 150 years, and with The Lost World of Fossil Lake, one of the world’s leading experts on the fossils from this spectacular locality takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of the discovery and exploration of the site. Deftly mixing incredible color photographs of the remarkable fossils uncovered at the site with an explanation of their evolutionary significance, Grande presents an unprecedented, comprehensive portrait of the site, its treasures, and what we’ve learned from them. Grande presents a broad range of fossilized organisms from Fossil Lake—from single-celled algae to palm trees to crocodiles—and together they make this long-extinct community come to life in all its diversity and splendor. A field guide and atlas round out the book, enabling readers to identify and classify the majority of the known fossils from the site. Lavishly produced in full color, The Lost World of Fossil Lake is a stunning reminder of the intellectual and physical beauty of scientific investigation—and a breathtaking window onto our planet’s long-lost past.