Skip to Content

Resource hub

Palaeozoic Palaeobotany of Great Britain (Geological Conservation Review Series No. 9) 1995

Abstract

Volume 9 of the Geological Conservation Review series, Palaeozoic Palaeobotany of Great Britain, covers the first 200 million years of the history of land evolution, showing how the main facets of vegetative evolution can be demonstrated at sites in Britain.

The Palaeozoic Era was a time of major evolution and diversification of plants, as they adapted from aquatic to terrestrial habitats. The new habitats were not yet populated by animals, and were harsh and inhospitable. Nevertheless, from the earliest intertidal vegetation of the Silurian Period (425 million years ago), plants progressively became established on land, and eventually developed into the lush tropical wetland forests of the Late Carboniferous Period (300 million years ago). Towards the end of the Palaeozoic (250 million years ago), a traumatic episode beset land plants and many of the previously dominant forms became extinct. The emptying of the many ecological niches provided an opportunity for more advanced groups such as cycads and conifers to radiate into the Mesozoic Era, and marked the start of the development of a modern style of vegetation.

The contents of the volume include:

  • Prelims – including an introduction to the Geological Conservation Review (GCR) and the list of sites discussed in the volume.
  • Chapter 1 – Introduction
  • Chapter 2 – History of research on British plant fossils
  • Chapter 3 – Silurian
  • Chapter 4 – Devonian
  • Chapter 5 – Lower Carboniferous
  • Chapter 6 – Upper Carboniferous
  • Chapter 7 – Permian
  • References, Glossary and Index

Please note: this volume has been produced from a scan of an original document. You may therefore experience fluctuations in quality.

Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 1995··

Citation
Cleal, C.J. & Thomas, B.A. 1995. Palaeozoic Palaeobotany of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series No. 9. JNCC, Peterborough, ISBN 0 412 61090 6.

Lineage
Volume 9 of the Geological Conservation Review series.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC publisher

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2022·03·07

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

Back to top