PALAEOBOTANICAL RESEARCH GROUP

UNIVERSITY  MÜNSTER

HISTORY  OF PALAEOZOIC  FORESTS
SILURIAN  PLANT  FOSSILS

The earliest land plants were found in Upper Silurian rocks. These are small, very simple plants consisting of naked axes, terminally bearing sporangia. In even older rocks isolated pieces of cuticle, tracheid-like structures and (crypto)spores can be found. These are, however, often still difficult to interpret. Some links to sites dealing with such cryptospores and enigmatic fossils are listed below.

Taxon / Subject
Web Source
Comments
Pics
Info
Cryptospores and other problematic fossils
Silurian cryptospores Weston Observatory   
Cryptospores Weston Observatory   
Silurian palynology Ph.D. Project John H. Beck, Weston Observatory Early land plant spores and cryptospores
Cambrian palynology Weston Observatory Palynology of the Cambrian of the Grand Canyon
Cryptospores Palynology, University of Arizona
Parka decipiens Hans Steur's Paleobotany Pages  
See also our "The  Earliest  Land Plants"  for the earliest (Silurian) records of vascular land plants
 
  =  excellent !   =  very good
  =  good
  =  fair
  =  poor / no information
 
Disclaimer

The last check of the list of links was done on 22 December 2003. The links give the most direct connections to pictures available on the web; in many cases they are from sites that have additional palaeobotanical information.  The above ratings refer to: 
1. Pics: the quality of the specimens, particularly with regard to characteristic features, and to the quality of the pictures. 
2. Info: the additional information provided.
Ratings are of course subjective but should be helpful for finding the fastest way to good pictures on the web. Own pictures are of course not rated. This is up to you! 
Suggestions for improvement and hints to other internet resources are most welcome
© Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
December 2003