Paleobotany

Michael Krings is curator for fossil plants at the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology (SNSB-BSPG) in Munich, Germany, and professor of plant paleobiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. He also holds an affiliate faculty position in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. He received his PhD in botany from the University of Münster, Germany, and was an Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of Kansas. His research interests include Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic seed plants and the biology and ecology of microorganisms in late Paleozoic terrestrial ecosystems.

Preface; Introduction to paleobotany, how plant fossils form; Precambrian life - fungi, bacteria, and lichens; Fungi; Algae; Bryophytes; The move to the land- introduction to vascular plant morphology and anatomy; Organography; Early land plants with conducting tissue; Lycophyta; Sphenophytes; Ferns and early fernlike plants; Progymnosperms; Paleozoic seed ferns; Mesozoic seed ferns; Paleozoic and mesozoic foliage; Cycadophytes; Ginkgophytes; Gymnosperms with obscure affinities; Cordaites; Conifers; Flowering plants; Interactions between plants and animals; Appendix 1 - classification of organisms; glossary; bibliography; index