#PaleoBotanyWeek
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annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

A new plant species from the Abo Formation, early Permian (Leonardian) of New Mexico, colonizer of disturbed habitats with implications regarding rarity in the fossil record by DiMichele and co-authors

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q757

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
June 23, 2026 at 11:55 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

Shoot apical meristem and vascular development of a late Paleozoic spermatophyte (Order Medullosales) by Portailler & Luthardt.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/qr8r

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
The unusual stem structure of medullosans shows that early seed plants experimented with diverse and sophisticated growth strategies, many of which have no direct modern equivalent.
June 27, 2026 at 6:03 AM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

Comparative rhizotaxy of fossil and living isoetalean rhizomorphs reveals development through rootlet intercalation within a triangular lattice by Wyman and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76q

@sandyheth.bsky.social
#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
Despite dramatic evolutionary changes in size and form, Isoetales have maintained a remarkably consistent root pattern, suggesting a shared developmental mechanism that challenges long-held assumptions about their structure.
June 27, 2026 at 12:38 AM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Palm phytoliths in subarctic Canada imply ice-free winters 48 million years ago during the late early Eocene by Siver and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q752

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@iceageberto.bsky.social
Microscopic fossils show that palm trees grew in subarctic Canada ~48 million years ago. This evidence reveals a much warmer climate than today, with above-freezing winters despite prolonged darkness, offering new insights into past greenhouse conditions.
June 22, 2026 at 10:04 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Expanded character sampling inspired by a new Cretaceous conifer seed cone from California: importance of morphology in resolving relationships among the Cupressaceae by @kpfeiler.bsky.social et al.

👉 doi.org/q76b

@kunhm.bsky.social @ku-eeb.bsky.social

#PlantEvolution
An Early Cretaceous conifer cone reveals previously unknown morphological diversity within Cupressaceae. By combining fossil evidence with new analytical approaches, the study shows that extinct lineages had unique trait combinations, helping clarify the evolutionary history of modern conifers.
June 24, 2026 at 1:40 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Persistence of Gondwanan woods in Myanmar through the Palaeogene by Gentis and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/p6mt

@nicolasgentis.bsky.social
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Fossil wood from Myanmar reveals that tropical Asian forests were shaped by ancient plant migrations from Gondwana. The study shows that some lineages spread from Africa to India and Southeast Asia during the early Palaeogene, forming a now-extinct floristic province that played a key role in the assembly of modern tropical floras.
June 25, 2026 at 2:00 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

How do the principal megabiases in the fossil record affect the discovery of past bryophyte diversity? by Blanco-Moreno @candelabm.bsky.social and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q754

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
An updated global analysis shows that the scarcity of bryophyte fossils reflects not only preservation, but also who studies them and where. The record is strongly shaped by socio-economic and geographic biases, influencing our understanding of early plant evolution.
June 23, 2026 at 10:24 AM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

We begin with the introduction to the Special Issue Milestones and trends: the role of the fossil record in reconstructing plant evolution by Mihai Tomescu and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q75x

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
Plant fossils are far more than remnants of extinct worlds. They are essential evidence for reconstructing the origins, diversification, and evolutionary innovations of land plants, revealing patterns and processes that cannot be inferred from living species alone.
June 22, 2026 at 2:09 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Claytosmunda basilica sp. nov. and the rise of crown-group Royal Ferns in Gondwanan high latitudes by Hiller and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76d

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A fossil royal fern from Triassic Antarctica reveals that modern lineages of Osmundales likely originated in high-latitude Gondwana. The study shows that while some fern lineages thrived in cooler regions and persist today, others from tropical areas disappeared—reshaping our understanding of fern evolution and survival.
June 24, 2026 at 8:33 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Reappraisal of Pseudobornia ursina Nathorst: Implications for the evolution and systematics of Paleozoic sphenophytes by Rastier and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76c

@alexisrastier.bsky.social
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A re-examination of a key Devonian fossil clarifies the evolutionary position of early sphenophytes. The study reveals a mosaic of ancestral traits, showing how reproductive structures became more compact over time and shedding new light on the origins of modern horsetails.
June 24, 2026 at 5:40 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

Convergent evolution in the late Permian megaphyllous leaves of the Noeggerathiales progymnosperm Paratingia and the cycad Plagiozamites by Qin and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76t

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
Some fossil leaves that resemble cycads actually belong to the distinct and now-extinct Noeggerathiales, revealing remarkable convergent evolution between unrelated plant groups. By disentangling these lookalike forms, this study refines how we identify fossil species and offers a clearer picture of plant diversity and extinction just before the Permian–Triassic crisis.
June 27, 2026 at 12:04 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

On the origin of euphyllophyte roots – hypotheses from an Early Devonian Psilophyton by Doran & Tomescu.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76k

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
A reanalysis of Psilophyton crenulatum suggests that early euphyllophytes may have evolved unique rooting structures much earlier than previously thought, offering new insights into how the roots of modern ferns, horsetails, and seed plants first originated.
June 27, 2026 at 7:03 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

Revisiting the enigmatic Cheirolepidiaceae: origins, phylogenetic relationships, and a new whole-plant concept by Andruchow-Colombo & Matsunaga.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76z

@anaac.bsky.social
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A remarkably complete Early Cretaceous fossil plant from Arkansas offers the clearest picture yet of the extinct Cheirolepidiaceae, revealing this widespread conifer family as a key evolutionary bridge between ancient voltzialean conifers and modern crown-group conifers.
June 28, 2026 at 2:03 PM
annbot.bsky.social
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Earliest Jurassic plant assemblages from Sweden reveal a low-diversity ginkgoalean and cheirolepid flora dominating the post-extinction landscape by Quiroz-Cabascango and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/g992x3

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
A newly discovered Swedish fossil flora captures how plants rebounded after the end-Triassic mass extinction, revealing resilient early Jurassic ecosystems shaped by conifers, ferns, and wildfire-prone landscapes.
June 26, 2026 at 5:38 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Corsiniopsis kurtzii gen. et sp. nov., a new fertile marchantioid fossil from the Late Triassic of Argentina provides evidence of the evolutionary trends of fertile branches in the by Flores & Cariglino

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q75z

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
A newly described liverwort fossil from Argentina shows that key features of complex thalloid liverworts were already established over 200 million years ago, suggesting dry-adapted lineages diversified earlier than previously thought.
June 22, 2026 at 4:40 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Vegetative and reproductive morphology of Othniophyton elongatum (MacGinitie) gen. et comb. nov., an extinct angiosperm of possible caryophyllalean affinity from the Eocene of Colorado and Utah, USA by Manchester and co-authors.

👉 doi.org/nx37

@floridamuseum.bsky.social
A re-examination of a 47-million-year-old fossil plant shows it does not belong to any modern family. The study highlights that some ancient angiosperms represent now-extinct lineages absent from today’s flora.
June 22, 2026 at 7:32 PM
annbot.bsky.social
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Uncoupling of morphological disparity and species diversity in Zosterophyllum, with its new species from the Pridoli (Silurian) of West Junggar, Xinjiang, China by Wang and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76s

#Paleobotany
Early land plants didn’t just diversify, they first expanded their range of forms. In Zosterophyllum, innovations in structure, especially in reproductive features, appeared before the peak in species diversity, suggesting that exploring new morphologies set the stage for later evolutionary success.
June 27, 2026 at 9:16 AM
annbot.bsky.social
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Fossil ferns of the Asian tropics: Salvinia and Acrostichum macrofossils and diverse fern spores from the early Eocene Ghazij Formation (Balochistan, Pakistan) by Spagnuolo and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/rcm8

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
The discovery of Salvinia, Acrostichum, and a diverse fern-spore assemblage in the Ghazij Formation fills a major gap in the tropical Asian fossil record and shows that tropical fern ecosystems were already diverse and ecologically complex during the early Eocene.
June 28, 2026 at 10:05 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

Late Cretaceous origins for major nightshade lineages from total evidence timetree analysis by González Ramírez and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76r

@ixchelgr.bsky.social
#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
Nightshades are much older than we thought. New fossil-informed analyses push their origin back nearly 100 million years, reshaping the evolutionary timeline of one of the world’s most important plant families.
June 27, 2026 at 3:06 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿 Thank you to everyone who followed and engaged with our #PaleoBotanyWeek

🦕We hope the articles featured throughout the week contribute to ongoing scientific discussions and provide new perspectives on the role of the fossil record in reconstructing plant evolution.
Dark blue graphic featuring the Annals of Botany logo at the top and the message "Thank You Paleobotany Week!" in large gold and orange lettering. Stylized illustrations of fossilized plant leaves embedded in rocks decorate the bottom left and bottom right corners, celebrating the conclusion of Paleobotany Week.
June 29, 2026 at 1:05 PM
annbot.bsky.social
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Cretaceous diversity of Schizaeales in Antarctica: Escuderia livingstonensis n. gen. et sp., a permineralized fertile organ from Livingston Island by Nishida and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76p

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
A remarkable new Antarctic fern fossil offers rare anatomical insight into the early evolution of Schizaeales, highlighting Antarctica’s potentially key role in the diversification of modern leptosporangiate ferns during the Cretaceous.
June 26, 2026 at 9:21 PM
annbot.bsky.social
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The taphonomic puzzle of Notothylacites filiformis: reinterpretation of bryophyte fossils from the Late Cretaceous of Czechia reveals the co-occurrence of hornworts and liverworts by Veselá and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76n

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution
By resolving decades of fossil misidentification, this study reveals a rare Cretaceous hornwort and a new liverwort species, offering fresh evidence that ancient bryophyte diversity and ecological partnerships closely resembled those seen today.
June 26, 2026 at 1:34 PM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

From Protosphagnum to Sphagnum? Additional support for M. F. Neuburg’s hypothesis on the evolution of leaf development in the Permian protosphagnalean mosses by Ignatov and co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76x

#Paleobotany
June 28, 2026 at 6:00 AM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek

Reevaluating the phylogenetic relationships of zosterophylls with a comprehensively sampled dataset and a combination of traditional and new alternative methods by Claisse et al.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76f

@penelopeclaisse.bsky.social
#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution
A comprehensive re-analysis of early vascular plants clarifies the evolutionary relationships of zosterophylls and their link to modern lycophytes. The study shows that these plants underwent a major early radiation, with key traits and lineages emerging rapidly before diversification slowed—refining our understanding of the origins of one of the oldest vascular plant groups.
June 25, 2026 at 12:39 AM
annbot.bsky.social
🌿🪨 #PaleoBotanyWeek 🦕

An early land plant with coiled fertile tips from the upper Silurian (Přídolí) of the Barrandian area (Czech Republic) by Uhlirova co-authors.

#freeaccess article
👉 doi.org/q76v

#Paleobotany #PlantEvolution #Botany
A rare Silurian plant fossil may reveal that some of Earth’s earliest land plants grew through an unusual “uncoiling” mechanism, offering new insight into how complex plant forms evolved from seemingly simple branching axes.
June 26, 2026 at 10:29 AM