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Plant-Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History
Paleontologists just recently opened their eyes to the wealth of fossil documents relevant to plant - arthropod interaction and are busy now accumulating raw data. Perhaps the richest regional collection of interaction traces came from the mid-Cretaceous deposits of the Negev Desert, Israel, encompassing the time interval of the rise and basal radiation of angiosperms - the flowering plants. The arthropods (insects and mites) inserting their eggs in the leaves and making leaf mines and galls were discovering new possibilities for endophytic life that the flowering plants provided. Their morphological disparity suggests a diversification race, in which the angiosperms failed to override their leaf parasites. Only a small fraction of insect diversity is represented by body fossils that belong to one extinct and nine extant families of beetles and cockroaches mostly. Because similar structures are produced on leaves by parasitic arthropods of different systematic alliances, a purely morphological classification is worked out for the trace fossils, with but tentative assignments to natural taxa, referring to distinct types of parasitic behavior. It is the evolution of behavior that is documented by the trace fossils. The body fossils and parasitic traces represent morphologies and behavioral traits fairly advanced for their geological age. The expression, abundance, co-occurrence, and host specialization of parasitic structures, as well as the marks of predation on mines and galls betray regulatory mechanisms of plant - arthropod interaction, analyzed in the broad context of ecosystem evolution, paleogeography and climate change.
Krassilov, V. & Rasnitsyn, A (ED) 2008.
Plant-Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History, ISBN 978-954-642-315-3. Pensoft Publishers & Brill, 165x240, illustrated by b/w photos, drawings and colour plates, index references, In English.
Price €URO 115.00
Europe: surface mail delivery €URO 12,
airmail delivery €URO 18;
Overseas: surface mail delivery €URO 15,
airmail delivery €URO 20.
Table of contents | Sample pages | Larger cover | Order online
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Late Cretaceous (Turonian) Flora of Southern Negev, Israel
V. Krassilov, Z. Lewy, E. Nevo & N. Silantieva
Paleofloristic discoveries cast new light on plant evolution. They are also pertinent to tectonic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions. As a result of extensive collecting in the Arava Valley south of the Dead Sea, the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) flora of southern Negev currently appears to be the most representative for this age in the Gondwana Realm. The book presents a comprehensive analysis of a regional paleoflora from several points of view. Starting with a detailed description of the work previously done on the site, the authors extend their analyses to the tectonic and paleogeographic framework and the regional settings of the localities. Further analyses of the paleocommunities – mangroves, marshes, palm growth, aquatic and inland vegetation – are based on a detailed taxonomic study of the plant fossils. Most of the 46 species described in the book are new to botanical systematics; more than half of them are assigned to new genera. Systematic descriptions are illustrated by more than 120 color and 30 black/white photos. Detailed descriptions of species and communities recognized in the Turonian of southern Negev may serve as the basis for further studies in morphological evolution of flowering plants, as well as in climatic and paleogeographic reconstructions. The book is addressed to specialists in the fields of plant phylogeny, paleoecology and paleoclimatology. It is indispensable for any library collecting surveys on these subjects.
Krassilov, V., Lewy, Z., Nevo, E. & Silantieva, N. 2005. Late Cretaceous (Turonian) Flora of Southern Negev, Israel. ISBN 9546422290, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia-Moscow, 165x240, description of 46 new species, 120 color and 30 b/w photos, maps, bibliography, index. In English. Hardback. 252 pp.
Price €URO 67.90
Europe: surface mail delivery €URO 11, airmail delivery €URO 15;
Overseas: surface mail delivery €URO 12, airmail delivery €URO 18.
Table of contents | Sample pages | Larger cover | Order online
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