Plant science - botany. It is closely related to other sciences, one of which is paleobotany. This is the study of plant fossils. Its role cannot be overestimated, because thanks to the knowledge gained, we begin to understand the history of planet Earth, to learn about what life was like on it in those days when there were no people yet.
Description of science
Paleobotany is a part of paleontology: the science that studies extinct organisms. You can also come across the name phytopaleontology. The subject of her study is the world of flora of past eras. The main tasks of this branch of knowledge include:
- The study of the remains of fossil organisms to identify features of their appearance and internal structure.
- Compilation of taxonomy of extinct representatives of the plant world, their classification.
- Studying their evolution and development from epoch to epoch.
- Analysis of how and for what reasons one plant community was replaced by another.
So, extinct plants are the main subject of study of paleobotany.
Connection with other sciences
Paleobotany is a branch of knowledge, a representative of the cycle of natural sciences, which is closely interconnected with others. So, there is its interaction with geology. It is the data of botanical paleontology that help geologists determine the age of certain rock deposits, establish the conditions for their formation, which makes it possible to determine the directions for the search for minerals. Science also interacts with biology, giving an explanation for many evolutionary processes in plants, providing information about how the ancestors of the current representatives of the fauna looked and what organs consisted of, how they were distributed on land in various geological epochs.
Besides this, a unique science is associated with some other disciplines:
- lithology - the science of the origin of sedimentary rocks;
- stratigraphy - determining the age of volcanic and sedimentary rocks;
- paleoclimatology - the study of the climate of ancient eras;
- tectonics - analysis of the structure of the earth's crust.
Science branches
What is paleobotany and the definition of this science, we discussed above. Now let's figure out which industries make it up. Of course, this selection was carried out very conditionally, since the parts of science are a single whole and are in close contact. Information about the main industries is presented in the table.
| Subsection | What is learning |
|
Morphological |
Analysis of the similarities of ancient fossil plants with each other and with modern species. |
| Systematic | Allows you to reveal how species succeeded each other in the process of evolution. |
| Paleoecology | Reviews the conditions under which ancient plants grew. |
| Paleofloristry | Describes the appearance of fossil flora. |
Each of these subsections is very important and provides valuable information to science.
Objects of study
Let's consider what paleobotany studies. Researchers have to work with the remains of extinct plants, often there is very little material for research, which creates certain difficulties. Thus, the objects of science research are:
- Fossils and mummified plant remains.
- Footprints. They are studied by a subsection called ichnophytology.
- Seeds are under the microscope of paleocarpologists.
- Spores and pollen are subject to paleopalinology.
- Wood (an industry called paleoxylology) or leaves, fossil fruits, is less likely to be studied.
- Plant tissues. Paleostomatography does this.
In general, the fossilized remains of the flora of past eras are called fossils. Scientists are also exploring wax, resin andother organic plant formations. Bark fragments, seeds and cones, spore shells are best preserved.
Preservation types of extinct plants
Palaeobotany is a science that has to deal with varying degrees of material preservation. The following types of fossils are distinguished:
- Complete safety. A very rare case and most often concerns representatives of the fauna.
- Casts are plant fragments that have been petrified.
- Fingers.
- Petrified remains.
- Organic-walled microfossils - bacteria shells, pollen and spores.
Palaeobotany works with each of them.
Applied methods
We looked at what paleobotany studies. Now let's get acquainted with the main methodology that this science uses. So, the following forms of research apply:
- Chemical breakdown of coal helps extract fossilized spores and fossil leaves.
- The cellulose film method allows acid to dissolve the substance containing the remains without damaging them.
- Electron microscopes are often used to study the cellular structure of plants.
Also, observation, anatomical study of sections and sections, epidermis and cuticles are used to obtain information on the features of the appearance and structure of fossil organisms.
A selection of interestingfacts
Despite the fact that science has to deal with very little material, because plants, unlike animals, are almost completely destroyed due to decay, her discoveries are amazing. We offer you to get acquainted with a selection of useful and interesting facts from paleobotany:
- The first fossil representatives of the fauna belong to the Precambrian. They are over 500 million years old.
- The science of paleobotany as a separate branch of knowledge was formed in 1828. It was then that the work of Adolphe Theodore Bragnard saw the light, in which the French botanist tried to give the world's first unified classification of fossils and modern plants.
- Algae trace their history back to the Proterozoic era.
- In ancient times, there were ferns that reproduced not by spores, like modern ones, but by seeds. There were so many of them that the era itself is often referred to as the “age of ferns.”
By studying this science, you can learn a lot about the life and characteristics of ancient plants that differed from the representatives of the fauna known to us.
Problems
Palaeobotany is a science that, for all its importance, has a number of problems. Let's highlight the key ones:
- Very little research material. So, if paleontologists have the opportunity to work with skeletons or even whole fossil animals preserved in permafrost, then paleobotanists rarely get whole plant organisms.
- Those remains that do get to researchers, most often representare altered organisms that have undergone decay.
- It is very difficult to draw up a complete picture, describe and systematize plants from the found fragments.
- Due to the fact that very few fruits and flowers have survived to this day, scientists have not been able to identify either the ancestors of flowering plants or the reason that they became dominant in the world of flora.
All this leads to the fact that our knowledge of the flora of ancient eras is very limited.
Meaning
What is the practical significance of paleobotany? Thanks to the information obtained during the study of imprints or remains of fossil plants, modern researchers draw more or less accurate conclusions about the age of landscapes. In addition, the study of fossils allows us to understand the evolutionary path that plants have passed, to find out the age of each species, to understand the issue of common origin, which is an invaluable help to modern botany.
It is this science that helps in the exploration and search for minerals. Paleobotany is also important in the study of climate problems: by comparing data from past eras, researchers can make a forecast of the current climate development, build computer weather models, and even predict global warming.
Paleobotany is the most important branch of knowledge, which allows not only to plunge into the world of the past, but also to answer a number of quite modern questions. Therefore, it has unconditional practical significance.
