Early Flowers and Angiosperm Evolution
Cambridge University Press, 8/18/2011
EAN 9780521592833, ISBN10: 0521592836
Hardcover, 596 pages, 25.1 x 19.6 x 3 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
The recent discovery of diverse fossil flowers and floral organs in Cretaceous strata has revealed astonishing details about the structural and systematic diversity of early angiosperms. Exploring the rich fossil record that has accumulated over the last three decades, this is a unique study of the evolutionary history of flowering plants from their earliest phases in obscurity to their dominance in modern vegetation. The discussion provides comprehensive biological and geological background information, before moving on to summarise the fossil record in detail. Including previously unpublished results based on research into Early and Late Cretaceous fossil floras from Europe and North America, the authors draw on direct palaeontological evidence of the pattern of angiosperm evolution through time. Synthesising palaeobotanical data with information from living plants, this unique book explores the latest research in the field, highlighting connections with phylogenetic systematics, structure and the biology of extant angiosperms.
Preface
1. Introduction to angiosperms
2. The nature of the angiosperm fossil record
3. The environmental context of early angiosperm evolution
4. Stratigraphic framework and key areas for Cretaceous angiosperms
5. Angiosperms in context
extant and fossil seed plants
6. Origin and age of angiosperms
7. Phylogenetic framework and the assignment of fossils to extant groups
8. Fossils near the base of the angiosperm tree
9. Early fossil angiosperms of uncertain relationships
10. Early fossils of eumagnoliids
11. Fossils of monocots
12. Fossils of eudicots
early diverging groups
13. Fossils of core eudicots
basal lineages
14. Fossils of core eudicots
rosids
15. Early fossils of eudicots
asterids
16. Patterns of structural diversification in angiosperm reproductive organs
17. History and evolution of pollination in angiosperms
18. History and evolution of dispersal in angiosperms
19. Vegetational context of early angiosperm diversification
20. The accumulation of angiosperm diversity
References
Index.