The rhynie chert flora. Morphometric approach, modelisation and simulation of the development of some early devonian land plants

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Project objective

Research objectives and content The 400-million-year-old Rhynie Chert flora (Abendeenshire, Scotland) is well known, for its remarkable preservation and its abundance of fossil plant remains. Although many papers dealt with his classical flora, detailed studies still continue to provide exciting new information. Reconstructions of several plants from this oldest anatomically preserved fossil ecosystem have been proposed. However, recent studies carried out by palaeobotanists from M|nster, have revealed new information on the basis of which traditional textbook reconstructions can be questioned. Project objectives are: I) to propose new reconstructions of four Rhynie Chert species: Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii, Aglaophyton major, Horneophyton lignieri and Nothia aphylla. These herbaceous plants tand on the basis of the further development of land plants. 2) to establish the developmental pattern of the above mentioned taxa 3) to model and simulate them three-dimensionally with AMAPI software. This study will be based on the investigation of serial thin sections of permineralised material hold in the rich collection of the M|nster institute. It will combine qualitative and detailed morphometric studies. It will contribute towards a better knowledge of morphometric diversity, developmental pattern and autecology of the Rhynie Chert taxa. Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact) This training will enrich my knowledge with new material (Devonian aged permineralisation) and new technical experiences (thin sections, anatomical analyses). Links with industry /industrial relevance (22)

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• Westfälische Wilhelms - Universität Münster · MünsterCoordinatorGermany

Links

• View on CORDIS