Paleobotany
Paleobotany, also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeography), and the evolutionary history of plants, with a bearing upon the evolution of life in general. A synonym is paleophytology. It is a component of paleontology and paleobiology. The prefix palaeo- or paleo- means "ancient, old",[1] and is derived from the Greek adjective παλαιός, palaios.[2] Paleobotany includes the study of terrestrial plant fossils, as well as the study of prehistoric marine photoautotrophs, such as photosynthetic algae, seaweeds or kelp. A closely related field is palynology, which is the study of fossilized and extant spores and pollen.
Paleobotany is important in the reconstruction of ancient ecological systems and climate, known as paleoecology and paleoclimatology respectively. It is fundamental to the study of green plant development and evolution. Paleobotany is a historical science much like its adjacent, paleontology. Because of the understanding that paleobotany gives to archeologists, it has become important to the field of archaeology as a whole. primarily for the use of phytoliths in relative dating and in paleoethnobotany.[3]
The study and discipline of paleobotany was seen as far back as the 19th century. Known as the “Father of Paleobotany”, French botanist Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart was a sufficient figure in this emergence of Paleobotany, known for his work on the relationship between the living and extinct plant life. This work not only progressed paleobotany but also the understanding of the earth and its longevity in actuality and the organic matter that existed over the earth’s timeline. Paleobotany also succeeded in the hands of German paleontologist Ernst Friedrich von Schlothiem, and Czech nobleman and scholar, Kaspar Maria von Sternberg.[4][5]
Related Sciences[edit]
Paleoecology[edit]
As paleobotany is the specification of fossilized plant life and the environment in which they thrived in, paleoecology is the study of all once-living organisms and the interactions held in the environments they once existed in, before becoming extinct.[6]
Paleoecology is a similar study to that of paleontology, but paleoecology uses more methodology from the biological sciences and geological sciences[7] rather than from an anthropological standpoint as paleontologists do.
Paleopalynology[edit]
Paleopalynology, more commonly known as palynology, is the science and study of ancient palynomorphs: particles sized between 5 and 500 micrometers.[8] This would be an inclusion of pollen and spores and any other micro-organic matter. Paleopalynology is simply paleobotany on a much smaller scale, the two in close association with each other.
Similar to paleobotany, we can tell a great deal of information about the environment and biome at the time these particles existed prehistorically. These particles also help geologists identify and date the rock strata of sedimentary rocks. It is also used to find natural oils and gas within these rock layers for extraction.[9] Besides uncovering documentation of our past environmental conditions, palynology can also tell us about animal diets, historical standings of human allergies, and reveal evidence in crime cases.
Some plants have remained almost unchanged throughout earth's geological time scale. Horsetails had evolved by the Late Devonian,[20] early ferns had evolved by the Mississippian, conifers by the Pennsylvanian. Some plants of prehistory are the same ones around today and are thus living fossils, such as Ginkgo biloba and Sciadopitys verticillata. Other plants have changed radically, or became extinct.
Examples of prehistoric plants are: