Biogeography of Mesozoic Leptosporangiate Ferns Related to Extant Ferns

The paleobiogeography of the extant leptosporangiate fern families present in the Mesozoic is reviewed based mainly on data from megafossils that possess enough characters to be assigned to a family. Times of first appearances are discussed for each family, followed by their distribution throughout...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brittonia 2001-04, Vol.53 (2), p.236-269
Main Author: Skog, Judith E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biogeography
Climatic conditions
Dispersal
Ferns
Flora
Fossils
Genera
Mesozoic
Moisture effects
Northern hemisphere
Paleoclimatology
Paleolatitude
Rain
Southern hemisphere
Spores
Temperate regions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The paleobiogeography of the extant leptosporangiate fern families present in the Mesozoic is reviewed based mainly on data from megafossils that possess enough characters to be assigned to a family. Times of first appearances are discussed for each family, followed by their distribution throughout the Mesozoic. Paleolatitudes and climatic conditions indicate that first appearances of many fern families occur about or above 30⚬and in conditions of higher moisture. Much of fern distribution in the past was likely due to long-distance dispersal.
ISSN:0007-196X
1938-436X
DOI:10.1007/BF02812701