United States
£ GBP
Incorporates many recent studies on the morphological evolution of plants, enlivens the subject with current research on ancient DNA and other biomolecular markers, and places plant evolution in the context of climate change and mass extinction.
1. The evolutionary record and methods of reconstruction; 2. Earliest forms of plant life; 3. The colonization of land; 4. The first forests; 5. Major emergence of the seed plants; 6. Flowering plant origins; 7. The past 65 million years; 8. Mass extinctions and persistent populations; 9. Ancient DNA and the biomolecular record; 10. Evolutionary theories and the plant fossil record
Essential and accessible reading for any student of evolution. The Biologist, 2002 The text is well written for an upper division undergraduate or beginning graduate student audience and attempts to incorporate a contemporary perspective on phylogenetics and paleoecology of the major groups of land plants, drawing on current literature throughout. Stephen L. Jessup, Southern Oregon University, USA Innovative, up to date, more incisive than many comparable level texts, bringing together physical and biological scientific enquiry in an exciting way. Nigel Brown, University of Wales, Bangor This is the finest palaeobotanical textbook for decades, and one that captures extremely well the exciting renaissance the subject is currently experiencing. Geological Magazine, 140, 2003
