The late Palaeozoic palaeotropics: Floral provincialism and evolutionary innovations - a palynological study

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In the Permian four floral provinces can be distinguished. Mixed floras with elements typical for two or three floral provinces (i.e., Cathaysia, Gondwana, Euramerica) are known from the Near and Middle East. Moreover, typical Triassic Gondwanan elements have recently been found in the Upper Permian of Jordan. This suggests that, during the Permian, the palaeotropical lowland areas were a radiation centre for the Mesozoic gymnosperms. In order to better understand the complex relationships between the different floral provinces and the evolution of the land flora shortly before and during one of the most critical time intervals in Earth history, it is necessary to carry out a detailed study in a palaeotropical region situated at the intersection of major floral provinces. Because the palynological record has a much better resolution than the megafloral record, this project will focus on microfloras, thereby concentrating on Anatolia; assemblages from SE Anatolia appear to yield mixed, very rich and diverse microfloras with elements typical for three floral provinces and some Triassic elements. Selected Middle-Upper Permian sections represent palaeolatutides between c. 15°S and the equator. This study should shed new light of the development of floral provincialism and on early origins of major gymnosperm clades, which later, after the end-Permian biotic crisis, became dominant constituents of the Mesozoic flora.