Paleoecology of Angiosperm Fossils

The paleoecology of angiosperm fossils encompasses the study of ancient flowering plants and their environmental contexts, drawing upon an array of plant remains such as leaves, wood, fruits and pollen. By integrating sedimentology, isotopic analysis and palaeobotanical evidence, researchers reconstruct past ecosystems, climatic regimes and biogeographic patterns. Fossil angiosperms shed light on key evolutionary innovations—such as diverse reproductive strategies, seed dispersal mechanisms and floral morphology—that underpinned the rapid rise of flowering plants in the Cretaceous and their subsequent dominance. Pollen and leaf physiognomy record shifts in temperature and precipitation, while in situ assemblages from amber and lacustrine deposits reveal community composition and plant–insect interactions. Collectively, these data inform models of vegetation dynamics during major climatic transitions from greenhouse to icehouse conditions, guide understanding of past biodiversity hotspots and offer analogues for future ecosystem responses to environmental change.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent phylogenomic studies of the oak family have employed genome-scale datasets to trace the timing and pattern of continental radiations across the Northern Hemisphere. Analyses of nuclear and plastid sequences reveal waves of diversification in response to climatic cooling following the end-Cretaceous extinction. Innovations in seed morphology and dispersal are implicated in enabling oaks and chestnuts to colonise emerging temperate biomes. Moreover, genome-wide signatures of ancient and recurrent hybridisation events have been detected, demonstrating that adaptive introgression played a central role in amplifying lineage diversity and facilitating range expansions. These findings refine our understanding of how genome dynamics interact with palaeoenvironmental change to shape angiosperm macroevolution.

Paleoecology of Angiosperm Fossils publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in paleoecology of angiosperm fossils across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Paleoecology: The study of interactions between ancient organisms and their environments, including climate, soil and biotic communities.

Angiosperm: A flowering plant characterised by seeds enclosed within a carpel and complex reproductive structures.

Phylogenomics: The use of genome-scale data to infer evolutionary relationships and historical diversification patterns among taxa.

Introgression: The incorporation of genetic material from one lineage into another through repeated hybridisation and backcrossing.

Palynology: The examination of fossil pollen and spores to reconstruct past vegetation and climate.

Palaeobotanical proxy: A plant-derived indicator, such as leaf physiognomy or pollen assemblage, used to infer past environmental conditions.

References

1. Origin and Early Evolution of Hydrocharitaceae and the Ancestral Role of Stratiotes. Plants (2024).
2. Phylogenomic analyses highlight innovation and introgression in the continental radiations of Fagaceae across the Northern Hemisphere. Nature Communications (2022).
3. Diversity of Fagaceae on Hainan Island of South China During the Middle Eocene: Implications for Phytogeography and Paleoecology. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2020).