Global InformationPaleoflora of the Messel Formation information
This is an overview of the paleoflora of the Eocene Messel Formation as explored by the Messel Pit excavations in Germany. A former quarry and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Messel Formation preserves what once were a series of lakes surrounded by sub-tropical rainforest during the Middle Eocene, approximately 47 Ma.[1]
Several major monographs on the paleoflora have been published since the early 1900s, with Hermann Engelhardt producing the first leaf monograph in 1922,[2] followed by Heidemarie Thiele-Pfeiffer in 1988[3][4] who provided the first in-depth palynological revision and expansion. Most recently Margaret Collinson, Steven Manchester, and Volker Wilde collaborated to study and redescribe the flowers, fruits, seeds, and other reproductive organs of the formation, with the monograph being published in 2011.[5]
- ^ Mertz, D.; Renne, P. (2005). "A numerical age for the Messel fossil deposit (UNESCO World Heritage Site) derived from 40Ar/39Ar dating on a basaltic rock fragment". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. 255: 7–75.
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