Previous articleNext article FreeConceptual Advances in Fossil Plant Biology: Introduction and DedicationGar W. Rothwell and Ruth A. StockeyGar W. Rothwell*Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, U.S.A.†Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, 2082 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, U.S.A.1Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected]. Search for more articles by this author and Ruth A. Stockey†Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, 2082 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, U.S.A.‡Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada Search for more articles by this author 1Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected].PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreFossils provide the foundation on which our understanding of plant evolution rests, thus illuminating and deepening our understanding of modern vegetation. Paleontological studies inform and enrich our knowledge of plant cell fine structure, anatomy, morphology, organismal development, and reproductive biology, as well as population dynamics, community interactions, extinct ecosystems and biomes, climates of the past, paleobiogeography, and changes in global geochemical cycles. Such studies also contribute enormously to the knowledge of organismal interactions, plant evolution, systematics, and phylogeny.Whereas many traditional organismal disciplines have receded from prominence over the past few decades, paleobotany continues to flourish as an indispensable facet of, and a creative force in, contemporary biological inquiry. At least in part, this is because all other biological disciplines ultimately rely on an understanding of the past to decipher intricacies of the present. Perhaps equally important has been the propensity for paleobotanists to develop innovative techniques that explore new avenues of research to reveal an ever-increasing richness of biological data and to forge an ever-widening sphere of collaborative interactions with researchers in a wide range of disciplines from geochemistry to molecular developmental biology.Publication of this issue culminates a series of celebratory events and activities that honor the scientific accomplishments of and intellectual impact on paleobotany and the evolution of terrestrial organisms by Dr. Thomas N. Taylor of the University of Kansas, coinciding with his seventy-fifth birthday on June 14, 2012. Earlier events and symposia were held at the 2012 meetings of the Botanical Society of America in Columbus, Ohio, and at the 9th International Organisation of Palaeobotany Conference in Tokyo, Japan, later that same year. Manuscripts for this issue were contributed by Tom’s current or past students, students of past students, and current or previous postdoctoral research associates. Other participants are colleagues of Tom who have worked closely with him either as coauthors or as codevelopers of the field through our global disciplinary umbrella, the International Organisation of Palaeobotany (IOP), with the contributors being connected by a complex network of scholastic relationships, many of which have resulted directly or indirectly from our mutual associations with Tom. The included studies represent a cross section of contemporary paleobotanical approaches presented in 25 articles by 74 authors from around the world. The diversity of approaches and variety of content embodied in this issue attest to the broad sweep of paleobotanical inquiry and the degree to which Tom Taylor has influenced the ever-widening scope of the field.First-, second-, and third-generation “Taylor students,” from the earliest to the most recent, are Gar Rothwell (Oregon State University and Ohio University), Ruth Stockey (Oregon State University), Edie Taylor (University of Kansas), Kathleen Pigg (Arizona State University), Melanie DeVore (Georgia College and State University), Willy Taylor (University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire), Jeff Osborn (College of New Jersey), Brian Axsmith (University of South Alabama), Rudy Serbet (University of Kansas), Selena Smith (University of Michigan), Mihai Tomescu (Humboldt State University), Juan Garcia Massini (Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica, La Rioja, Argentina), Andrew Schwendemann (University of Kansas), Karla Harper (University of Kansas), Ashley Klymiuk (University of Kansas), and Allison Bronson (Humboldt State University).Contributing authors also include four past presidents of IOP, Bill Chaloner (University of London), Else Marie Friis (Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm), Margaret Collinson (University of London), and Gar Rothwell. Seven senior colleagues are contributing authors, including Sergio Archangelsky (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires), David Dilcher (Indiana University), Jean Galtier (AMAP-CIRAD, Montpellier), Barry Thomas (Aberystwyth University), Bill Crepet (Cornell University), Hans Kerp (University of Münster), and Hagan Hass (University of Münster). Contributing former and current postdoctoral researchers are Chuck Daghlian (Dartmouth College), James White Jr. (Rutgers University), Georgina Del Fueyo (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales), Mike Zavada (Seaton Hall University), Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud (Université Montpellier), Rubén Cunéo (Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina), Ana Archangelsky (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales), Michael Krings (Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich), Liz Hermsen (Ohio University), Nacho Escapa (Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio), Anne-Laure Decombeix (Université Montpellier), Patty Ryberg (Park University), and Benni Bomfleur (University of Kansas).Tom Taylor holds a special place among the luminaries of our field for his pioneering of new approaches, his integration of paleontology and modern biology, his extraordinary productivity, his tireless mentorship of students, and his fierce loyalty to friends and colleagues. He is not only the most prolific paleobotanical researcher of his generation but also one of the most innovative. His work has extended the frontiers of extinct organisms to the venues of the living. His detailed studies of plant structure and evolution have stood the test of time as benchmarks for completeness and accuracy. Particularly important are the exploration of meristematic activity, cambial activity, organ development, and fossil phloem. His pioneering integration of light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy has unleashed a flood of novel studies that have pushed the boundaries of our understanding of fossil fine structure for plant spores, pollen, and leaf cuticles.Tom’s development of the discipline of paleomycology has altered our perspective of organismal interactions during the phylogenetic radiation of land organisms, initiated the search for an in-depth understanding of fungal evolution, and dramatically elevated the appreciation for organismal interactions in biological evolution. This is most poignantly illustrated by Tom’s biological interaction studies of the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert, where his work has documented a charophycean green alga (Palaeonitella) being parasitized by an oomycete (Peronosporomycetes), which in turn is parasitized by a chytrid (Chytridiomycota). In addition to these first reports of mycoparasitism in the fossil record, Tom’s work has encompassed the paleontological study of mycorrhizal symbioses, cyanobacterial and land plant associations, and diversity of microbial life. This work allows us to answer a broad range of questions relating to the evolutionary history of these associations and interactions between microorganisms, land plants, and animals through time.Tom’s work has substantially elevated a broad appreciation for the detailed information that is available from the fossil record in works such as his reconstruction of the entire life cycle of the Lower Devonian polysporangiophyte plant Aglaophyton major. The organismal concept for A. major that he has compiled includes not only the mature sporophyte and gametophyte phases of the life cycle but also germinating spores, developing gametophytes, anatomically preserved gametangia with both egg and sperm, apical cells of growing axes, and mycorrhizal associations.Tom’s dedication to broadening paleobotanical knowledge of the Antarctic continent has fostered a far more enlightened understanding of polar vegetation, particularly biotas that inhabited Antarctica during the Permian and Triassic. All of these varied and diverse contributions have been skillfully integrated with rapidly accumulating new information on plant paleontology in three editions of his popular paleobotany textbooks and in a forthcoming paleomycology compendium. For these, for the legacy of his extraordinary productivity, and, most important, for the lust for inquiry that he has instilled in all of us, we joyfully dedicate this issue to our mentor and friend, Tom Taylor. Dr. Thomas N. TaylorView Large ImageDownload PowerPoint Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by International Journal of Plant Sciences Volume 174, Number 3March/April 2013Special Issue: Conceptual Advances in Fossil Plant Biology Edited by Gar Rothwell and Ruth Stockey Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/669492 Views: 46Total views on this site © 2013 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.