Catalogue of Tertiary plants
This catalogue includes all the Tertiary plants from Spitsbergen contained in the collections, a total of some 4500 specimens.
The book Catalogue of the Tertiary plant fossils from Spitsbergen housed in the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm. Is writenby T. Denk, L. Wanntorp, and S. B. Manum, with the assistance of O. Haglund. Published 1999.
Fossil plants from Spitsbergen
Large collections of fossil plants from the Arctic region including Spitsbergen are housed in the department of palaeobotany in the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
The assemblages described by Oswald Heer in his classical papers of the 19th century. The age of the Spitsbergen assemblages, originally thought to be Miocene, is now considered to range from Early Paleocene to Late Eocene-Early Oligocene. Stratigraphy and location of all collecting sites are included in the catalogue.
Most of the fossils are leaf imprints yielding no cuticle; fruiting and flowering parts are generally rare and in a state of preservation rendering them unidentifiable.
References to publications
The catalogue contains entries to all the published specimens in the collection and to taxonomic revisions during the last few decades along with synonymies, as well as a list of all specimens identifiable to the generic level. Interpretations of the palaeoenvironment of the plant-bearing formations are briefly reviewed. Counts of specimens representing major taxonomic groups are presented for four of the richest assemblages, representing a time span of some 25-30 million years. The quantitative analysis indicates no major vegetational change that can be related to changes in climate.
Order the book
You send your order to:
Department of Palaeobiology
Swedish Museum of Natural History
Box 50007
SE-104 05 Stockholm
SWEDEN
Int. phone: +46-8-5195 4180 (secretariat)
Int. fax: +46-8-5195 4221
E-mail: ewa.sjodin@nrm.se