Fossil angiosperm wood: its role in the reconstruction of biodiversity andpalaeoenvironment

Fossil wood is subject to different taphonomic, sampling and recognition bi ases in the palaeobotanical record when compared with leaves and palynomorp hs. Wood therefore provides a systematically independent source of informat ion that can increase our knowledge of past biodiversity and environments. Increase in fossil wood records from Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments help s further the understanding of trends in anatomical specialization through geological time. These data can then be used to distinguish such specializa tion from anatomical response to environmental change. Two case studies, a Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary wood flora from Antarctica and a lower Terti ary wood flora from southern England, have been used to exemplify the impor tance of studying the fossil wood component of palaeofloras. (C) 2000 The L innean Society of London.