Introduction to Plant Fossils

Christopher J. Cleal is Head of Botany at National Museum Wales. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society, London, and the Linnean Society, London, and is a member of the Fossil Plant Committee of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy (IAPT). He has published nine books and over 200 papers in academic journals, dealing with palaeobotany, stratigraphy and geoconservation. Barry A. Thomas is an Honorary Professor and a Lifelong Learning Lecturer at Aberystwyth University and is a Research Fellow at the National Museum of Wales. He is a Trustee of the British Institute for Geological Conservation, a member of the Advisory Group to the National Library and is Past President of the British Pteridological Society. Previously, he was Head of Life Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, at Goldsmiths College, University London, and Keeper of Botany at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.

'… affording quick access to the world of fossil plants to any interested reader. Their direct approach is refreshing, making the book eminently useful for the basic identification of fossil plants, in some cases down to species-level determinations … Undergraduate students willing to read this book will quickly gain a core understanding of an important subject that is rarely included in today's college curriculum.' P. K. Strother, Choice

• 1. Introduction; 2. Highlights of palaeobotanical study; 3. Studying plant fossils; 4. Early land plants; 5. Lycophytes; 6. Sphenophytes; 7. Ferns; 8. Early gymnosperms; 9. Modern gymnosperms; 10. Angiosperms; 11. The history of land vegetation.