Paleobotanik

Paleobotanik (commonly known in English as paleobotany) is the scientific study of fossil plants and plant remains from geologic past. It examines preserved plant structures such as leaves, seeds, wood, pollen, spores and microscopic silica bodies to reconstruct plant evolution, ancient ecosystems and past climates. The field bridges botany and paleontology, integrating morphological description, stratigraphy and geochronology.

Techniques used in paleobotanik include macroscopic study of impressions and permineralized specimens, microscopic analysis of pollen and spores (palynology), chemical and isotopic analyses, and imaging methods like scanning electron microscopy. Dating of plant fossils relies on relative stratigraphic correlation and absolute methods such as radiometric dating of associated volcanic layers.

Research in paleobotanik contributes to understanding major evolutionary events (for example the colonization of land by plants, the rise of vascular plants, gymnosperms and angiosperms), the development of ancient forests, and the responses of vegetation to climate change and mass extinctions. It also informs reconstructions of paleoclimate, biogeography and the origins of coal and other plant-derived deposits.

The discipline has historical roots in 19th-century naturalists who first described fossil floras. Today paleobotanik is interdisciplinary, collaborating with geologists, climatologists and molecular biologists to refine timelines of plant evolution and to interpret Earth’s environmental history.