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Plant Life in the Age of Dinosaurs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2017

Bruce H. Tiffney
Bruce H. Tiffney*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara
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Why plants? – Why include plants in a course on dinosaurs? They don't move, lack large teeth and sharp claws, and are non-sentient. The average student (who can spell Deinonychus correctly) hasn't a clue to the genera of even the most common plants. However, without plants, dinosaurs (or any other heterotroph) would not exist. Plants are the basis for global life, trapping the sun's energy in a form useful to consumers. Thus, the photosynthetic efficiency, palatability, and digestibility of plants define the total energy in the system available for use by consumers – and therefore the total biomass of consumers. Additionally, the morphology of individual plants determines the “packages” of food available to herbivores, and in the aggregate, the three-dimensional environment in which the herbivores and their carnivores live.

Type
Research Article
Information
Short Courses in Paleontology , Volume 2: The Age of Dinosaurs , 1989 , pp. 34 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 Paleontological Society 

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References

References

Meyen, S. V. 1987. Fundamentals of Palaeobotany. Chapman and Hall, London. An advanced textbook of fossil plant systematics. The chapter on paleophytogeography is perhaps the most inclusive summary of Mesozoic plant distributions.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, W. N. 1983. Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Excellent description of the morphology of individual taxa, often accompanied by fine line drawings or photographs.Google Scholar
Taylor, T. N. 1981. Paleobotany. An Introduction to Fossil Plant Biology. McGraw Hill, New York. Most detailed text, with mention of all but the most obscure groups. Best as a technical reference.Google Scholar
Thomas, B. A. and Spicer, R. A. 1987. The Evolution and Palaeobiology of Land Plants. Dioscorides Press, Portland. Best choice for general coverage with a minimum of technical description. Illustrations not generally suitable for teaching.Google Scholar

Sources of Illustrations Suitable for Teaching

Sources of Illustrations Suitable for Teaching Google Scholar
Augusta, J. and Burian, Z. 1957. Prehistoric Animals. Spring Books, London. Classic painted reconstructions. Some are distinctly dated (Cycadeoids are no longer thought to have borne surficial “flowers”). Some of the most esthetically pleasing reconstructions around.Google Scholar
Benes, J. and Burian, E. 1979. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Hamlyn Publishing Group, London. Small format color pictures of a wide range of vertebrates, often with plants in the background, and occasional pictures of just plants. Art quality good, reconstructions occasionally dated, but good.Google Scholar
Retallack, G.J. and Dilcher, D.L. 1988. Reconstructions of selected seed ferns. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75: 1010–1057. Slightly crowded line drawings of major taxa of seed ferns.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, B.A. 1981. The Evolution of Plants and Flowers. St. Martin's Press, New York. Certain reconstructions of early and middle Mesozoic landscapes illustrate the hypothesized openness of the vegetation, and the low diversity of herbivores.Google Scholar
White, M.E. 1986. The Greening of Gondwana. Reed Books Pty. Ltd., Frenchs Forest, New South Wales. Excellent photographs of actual Southern Hemisphere fossils. Occasional reconstructions of individual plant parts.Google Scholar