Plant fossils: the history of land vegetation

Christopher J. Cleal, Barry A. Thomas9780851156842, 0-85115-684-3

Plants have played a central role in the evolution of life on Earth and the colonisation of land, to the extent that without them we would not exist, yet even to scientists the history of land vegetation and plant fossils is not well-known. This book describes plants’ origins and development, illustrated with a unique selection of plant portraits, many of which have never been seen before. The fossil record shows that plants first `invaded’ the land some 400 or more million years ago, as tiny leafless stems which only grew upright for a few centimeters and were restricted to lowlying, waterlogged habitats; from these unpromising beginnings, the whole of Earth’s flora has evolved. Each of the major groups of plants is described in general order of appearance in the records, from the first giant clubmosses, horsetails and ferns, which contributed so much to the developing forests, through the seed plants to the angiosperms, the flowering plants, which dominate the landscapes of today. The authors conclude the book with an account of the scientists who have contributed to the development of the story, and hazard some predictions about the directions which future research may take.CHRISTOPHER J. CLEALis Head of the Vegetational History Section at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales at Cardiff; BARRY A. THOMASholds a personal chair in the Department of Geography at Lampeter. They have made lifetime studies of ancient flora.

---

Table of contents :
Локальный диск……Page 0
cover……Page 1
page_i……Page 2
page_ii……Page 3
page_iii……Page 4
page_iv……Page 5
page_v……Page 6
page_vii……Page 7
page_viii……Page 8
page_ix……Page 9
page_1……Page 10
page_2……Page 11
page_3……Page 12
page_4……Page 13
page_5……Page 14
page_6……Page 15
page_7……Page 16
page_8……Page 17
page_9……Page 18
page_10……Page 19
page_11……Page 20
page_12……Page 21
page_13……Page 22
page_14……Page 23
page_15……Page 24
page_16……Page 25
page_17……Page 26
page_18……Page 27
page_19……Page 28
page_20……Page 29
page_21……Page 30
page_22……Page 31
page_23……Page 32
page_24……Page 33
page_25……Page 34
page_26……Page 35
page_27……Page 36
page_28……Page 37
page_29……Page 38
page_30……Page 39
page_31……Page 40
page_32……Page 41
page_33……Page 43
page_34……Page 44
page_35……Page 45
page_36……Page 46
page_37……Page 47
page_38……Page 48
page_39……Page 49
page_40……Page 50
page_41……Page 51
page_42……Page 52
page_43……Page 53
page_44……Page 54
page_45……Page 55
page_46……Page 56
page_47……Page 57
page_48……Page 58
page_49……Page 59
page_50……Page 60
page_51……Page 61
page_52……Page 62
page_53……Page 63
page_54……Page 64
page_55……Page 65
page_56……Page 66
page_57……Page 67
page_58……Page 68
page_59……Page 69
page_60……Page 70
page_61……Page 71
page_62……Page 72
page_63……Page 73
page_64……Page 74
page_65……Page 75
page_66……Page 76
page_67……Page 77
page_68……Page 78
page_69……Page 79
page_70……Page 80
page_71……Page 81
page_72……Page 82
page_73……Page 83
page_74……Page 84
page_75……Page 85
page_76……Page 86
page_77……Page 87
page_78……Page 88
page_79……Page 89
page_80……Page 90
page_81……Page 91
page_82……Page 92
page_83……Page 93
page_84……Page 94
page_85……Page 95
page_86……Page 96
page_87……Page 97
page_88……Page 98
page_89……Page 99
page_90……Page 100
page_91……Page 101
page_92……Page 102
page_93……Page 103
page_94……Page 104
page_95……Page 105
page_96……Page 106
page_97……Page 107
page_98……Page 108
page_99……Page 109
page_100……Page 110
page_101……Page 111
page_102……Page 112
page_103……Page 113
page_104……Page 114
page_105……Page 115
page_106……Page 116
page_107……Page 117
page_108……Page 118
page_109……Page 119
page_110……Page 120
page_111……Page 121
page_112……Page 122
page_113……Page 123
page_114……Page 124
page_115……Page 125
page_116……Page 126
page_117……Page 127
page_118……Page 128
page_119……Page 129
page_120……Page 130
page_121……Page 131
page_122……Page 132
page_123……Page 133
page_124……Page 134
page_125……Page 135
page_126……Page 136
page_127……Page 137
page_128……Page 138
page_129……Page 139
page_130……Page 140
page_131……Page 141
page_132……Page 142
page_133……Page 143
page_134……Page 144
page_135……Page 145
page_136……Page 146
page_137……Page 147
page_138……Page 148
page_139……Page 149
page_140……Page 151
page_141……Page 153
page_142……Page 155
page_143……Page 157
page_144……Page 159
page_145……Page 161
page_146……Page 163
page_147……Page 165
page_148……Page 166
page_149……Page 168
page_150……Page 169
page_151……Page 170
page_152……Page 172
page_153……Page 174
page_154……Page 175
page_155……Page 177
page_156……Page 178
page_157……Page 179
page_158……Page 180
page_159……Page 181
page_160……Page 182
page_161……Page 183
page_162……Page 184
page_163……Page 185
page_164……Page 186
page_165……Page 187
page_166……Page 188
page_167……Page 189
page_168……Page 190
page_169……Page 191
page_170……Page 192
page_171……Page 193
page_172……Page 194
page_173……Page 195
page_174……Page 196
page_175……Page 197
page_176……Page 198
page_177……Page 199
page_178……Page 200
page_179……Page 201
page_181……Page 202
page_182……Page 205
page_183……Page 208
page_184……Page 211
page_185……Page 214
page_186……Page 217
page_187……Page 220
page_188……Page 223
page_189……Page 224