Plant Evolution and Ecology During the Early Cainozoic Diversification

Collinson, Margaret E.

doi:10.1016/s0065-2296(08)60132-9

Cited by 36 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 183 publications

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“…Fungal sclerotia may vary in shape but are commonly spherical and in the size range 200 μ m to 2 mm [ Townsend and Willetts , 1954; Willetts , 1969; Watanabe et al , 2007]. Also arthropod faecal pellets are often abundant in soils, usually elongate but occur in the same size range depending on the animal responsible: mites, collembola, termites, millipedes [ Adams , 1984; Collinson , 1990; Scott , 1992].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternative biological origins for different morphologies include small galls (formed on plants or fungi) or insect fecal pellets. Support for these possibilities comes from the radial pattern of tissue organization () and the hexagonal faceting (), the latter identical to that of termite fecal pellets that are frequently found in soils and are common coprolites in the fossil record [ Adams , 1984; Collinson , 1990; Scott , 1992]. Coprolites occur commonly in many of our California samples, but from the data published, it is not possible to know what proportion of the “elongates” of Kennett et al [2008, 2009b] are fungal sclerotia or coprolites.…”

Section: Implications Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fungus, not comet or catastrophe, accounts for carbonaceous spherules in the Younger Dryas “impact layer”

Scott

Pinter

Collinson

et al. 2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] A claim attributes the onset of the Younger Dryas climate interval and a range of other effects ∼12,900 years ago to a comet airburst and/or impact event. One key aspect of this claim centers on the origin of carbonaceous spherules that purportedly formed during intense, impactignited wildfires. Samples from Pleistocene-Holocene sedimentary sequences in the California Channel Islands and other sites show that carbon spherules and elongate forms are common in samples dating to before, during, and well after the 12,900-year time horizon, including from modern samples. Microscopic studies show that carbon spherules have morphologies and internal structures identical to fungal sclerotia (such as Sclerotium and Cenococcum). Experimental charring of fungal sclerotia shows that their reflectance increases with temperature. Reflectance measurements of modern and late Pleistocene spherules show that the latter indicate, at most, low-intensity burning. These data cast further doubt upon the evidence suggesting a catastrophic Younger Dryas impact event.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungus, not comet or catastrophe, accounts for carbonaceous spherules in the Younger Dryas “impact layer”

Scott

Pinter

Collinson

et al. 2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…, 2005). Major changes in vegetation did indeed occur from the Palaeocene into the Eocene with the widespread expansion of forest, including tropical rainforests, consistent with reduced fire activity (Collinson, 1990, 2000; Willis & McElwain, 2002; Burnham & Johnson, 2004). Later, in the Neogene, the opening up of forested landscapes and the initial spread of grasslands were more likely because of the onset of cold dry conditions (Strömberg, 2005).…”

Section: Did Fires Burn In the Cretaceous?mentioning

confidence: 98%

Fire and the spread of flowering plants in the Cretaceous

2010

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Summary• We suggest that the spread of angiosperms in the Cretaceous was facilitated by novel fire regimes. Angiosperms were capable of high productivity and therefore accumulated flammable biomass ('fuel') more rapidly than their predecessors. They were capable of rapid reproduction, allowing populations to spread despite frequent disturbance.• We evaluate the evidence for physical conditions conducive to fires in the Cretaceous. These included high temperatures, seasonally dry climate and higher atmospheric oxygen than current levels. We evaluate novel properties of angiosperms that contributed to rapid biomass accumulation, and to their ability to thrive in frequently disturbed environments. We also review direct evidence for Cretaceous fires.• Charcoal mesofossils are common in Cretaceous deposits of the Northern Hemisphere. Inertinite, the charcoal component of coal, is common throughout the Cretaceous and into the Palaeocene, but declined steeply from the Eocene when angiosperm-dominated forests became widespread.• Direct and indirect evidence is consistent with angiosperms initiating novel fire regimes, promoting angiosperm spread in the Cretaceous. Several traits are consistent with frequent surface fires. We suggest that forest was slow to develop until the Eocene, when fire activity dropped to very low levels. The causes and consequences of fires in the deep past warrant greater attention.

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“…Even when only isolated organs are available, functional morphology combined with taphonomic and sedimentological evidence permit reconstruction of ancient vegetation. Ancient vegetation and climate can be reconstructed using evidence from leaf and wood physiognomy (Friis et al 1987;Wolfe 1990;Wolfe & Upchurch 1987;Collinson 1990). appropriately termed semiterrestrial) is probably the most difficult to recognize, as it is intermediate between…”

Section: Sources Of Evidence (A) Plant Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It coincides with the widespread extent of tropical to paratropical forests reaching to 50?-60? North and South (Wolfe 1985; and see Collinson (1990) for review) represented in the fossil record by a diversity of fruits and seeds (Collinson 1983, in Franzen & Michaelis (1988 Many factors influence fruit and seed selection, and dispersal versus predation, in frugivory. These include fruit colour and composition of pulp, particularly with respect to lipids, proteins and sugars (Howe 1986;Estrada & Fleming 1986).…”

Section: Reduction In Fallen Fruit Abundance Which May Be Due To a Rementioning

confidence: 99%

Fossil evidence of interactions between plants and plant-eating mammals

Collinson

Hooker

1991

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B

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We document changes in mammalian dietary and foraging locomotor adaptation, and appearances and developments of angiosperm fruiting strategies and vegetation types since the late Cretaceous in the Euramerican region, and to some extent in low latitude Africa. These changes suggest: (i): an expansion in the exploitation of dry fruits and seeds by mammals on the ground as well as in the trees after the terminal Cretaceous dinosaur extinction; (ii) a relation between large nuts and rodents, which appear in the late Palaeocene and radiate in the late Eocene; (iii) a relation between primates and fleshy fruits established in the early-Middle Eocene when tropical forests reached their maximum latitudinal extent; (iv) a hiatus of several million years in the vertebrate exploitation of leaves after dinosaur extinction and before the first few mammalian herbivores in the Middle Palaeocene, followed by an expansion in the late Eocene when climates cooled and more open vegetation became established.

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Plant Evolution and Ecology During the Early Cainozoic Diversification

Cited by 36 publications

References 183 publications

Fungus, not comet or catastrophe, accounts for carbonaceous spherules in the Younger Dryas “impact layer”

Fungus, not comet or catastrophe, accounts for carbonaceous spherules in the Younger Dryas “impact layer”

Fire and the spread of flowering plants in the Cretaceous

Fossil evidence of interactions between plants and plant-eating mammals

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