Alexei Herman

Russian Academy of Sciences | RAS · Palaeofloristics

Within the ongoing controversy regarding the orogeny of the Tibetan Plateau region, two directly-conflicting endmember frameworks have emerged, where either: 1) a high central ‘proto-plateau’ existed prior to the onset of India-Asia continental collision, or 2) the early Paleogene central Tibet comprised a wide E-W oriented lowland ∼1-2 km above se...

Three species belonging to the fern genus Ochotopteris E. Lebedev, including the new species O. lebedevii Herman et Domogatskaya, are revised, described and illustrated in this paper. The fossils come from Albian, Cenomanian, Turonian and Coniacian beds exposed at seven sites in North-Eastern Asia and Northern Alaska. These sites are located in the...

In this work, a securely dated middle Eocene plant fossil assemblage is described and illustrated. Plant fossils come from the volcanogenic-terrigenous deposits of the Tolstyi Cape Formation and Buyan Formation exposed in the east and south-east parts of the Bering Island, Komandor Islands (Commander Islands) group. They belong to conifers (four sp...

Flowering plants, the angiosperms, are the most diverse group of plants on our planet. Today, they dominate most vegetation types, but their origin continues to remain a mystery. However, we continue to gain knowledge about their early evolution and history. It seems increasingly probable that their origin is associated with climatic and environmen...

On the basis of the analysis of literature and cartographic materials, our field observations, results of U-Pb isotope dating of zircons, and examination of paleobotanical collections, it was established that the "Mesophytic" Buor-Kemus fern-gymnosperm flora existed in Eastern Chukotka in the Late Cretaceous longer than in other regions. The volcan...

Most Late Cretaceous Phoenicopsis leaves lack preserved cuticle and so have been determined as Phoenicopsis ex gr. angustifolia, P. ex gr. speciosa or Phoenicopsis sp. using only macromorphology. We studied the epidermal characters of leaves from the Santonian–Campanian Emuneret Formation of the Enmyvaam River Basin in Chukotka, Northeastern Russia...

На основании анализа литературных и картографических материалов, полевых наблюдений авторов, результатов U–Pb датирования цирконов и ознакомления с палеоботаническими коллекциями показано, что “мезофитная” папоротнико-голосеменная буор-кемюсская флора существовала на Восточной Чукотке дольше обычного в позднемеловую эпоху. Осадочные отложения ольхо...

Molecular phylogeneticists often find that a diversification of western Chinese plant taxa took place in the Miocene and link this to the Neogene uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. This link is made despite abundant geological evidence showing that a high but topographically complex Tibet already existed in the Paleogene. To evaluate and constrain mole...

After Edouard von Toll discovered Late Cretaceous plant fossils on the southern coast of New Siberia Island (Arctic Russia) in 1886 and Schmalhausen described them in 1890, no further work has been undertaken on von Toll's collection. However, palaeobotanists widely use the list of these plants based on line drawings from the paper by Schmalhausen....

Table of mass spectrometry analytical data for detrital zircons from Nyrvakinot Formation (Chukotka Peninsula, NE Russia)

The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else of comparable size on Earth, impacting global climate feedbacks and the Arctic biota. However, a warm Arctic is not novel. The Late Cretaceous fossil record of the region enables a detailed reconstruction of polar environmental conditions, and a thriving extinct ecosystem, during a previous 'hothouse’...

Some decisions of the Third Interdepartmental Regional Stratigraphic Meeting on Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic of Northeastern Russia (St. Petersburg, 2002) are analyzed in light of the latest data obtained. The regional stratigraphic units (“horizons”) of the nonmarine Cretaceous recognized at this meeting are in fact not the basic subdivisi...

A new collection of plant fossils from the Derevyannye Gory Formation of the New Siberia Island collected in 2016 was studied. Thirty species of fossil plants attributed to liverworts, ferns, ginkgoaleans, conifers, and angiosperms were identified and illustrated; 16 of these species were not previously encountered among the New Siberian flora. A n...

A new fossil leaf species, Liquidambar bella (Altingiaceae), is described from the lower part of the Eocene Huangniuling Formation, Maoming Basin, South China. Suprabasal venation in the fossil lobed Liquidambar leaves is reported for the first time. The new species provides additional palaeobotanical evidence on the morphological variability of th...

The Turonian - Coniacian (Late Cretaceous) Arman Flora (North-eastern Russia, Magadan District) exhibits a high diversity of fossil angiosperms (28 dicot species). Based on their physiognomy, palaeoclimate variables were estimated showing that the flora experienced a humid warm-temperate climate without any pronounced seasonality. Palaeoclimate var...

The model of geological structure of sedimentary cover of the Laptev Sea accepted by most geologists suggests that the lower seismic complex of the cover begins by the Aptian–Albian sedimentary rocks. They can be studied in natural outcrops of Kotelnyi Island. The section of the Tuor-Yuryakh Trough, which exposes the lower part of the Cretaceous co...

The Boguchan floristic assemblage from the Middle Tsagayan subformation of the Zeya–Bureya Basin (Russian Far East) is Palaeocene in age according to both palaeobotanical (palynological and plant megafossil studies) and isotope dating of the plant-bearing deposits. It comes from two localities situated in the vicinity of Arkhara Village. The Boguch...

The study of fossil plant-biotic (mainly arthropod) interactions offers an opportunity to understand the evolutionary process in palaeoecosystems and their response to climate fluctuation. Despite the importance of such investigations, not much is known about plant-arthropod associations from the Cenozoic floras of Asia. Exceptionally diverse Eocen...

The stratigraphic position of layers containing plant and animal remains in the Koryak Highlands (Northeast Asia) is under discussion. Their age is defined as late Campanian–early Maastrichtian. Plant-bearing and bone-bearing rocks represent cemented basaltic tephra. The former contain a small amount of xenogenic material and slightly rounded volca...

Monsoonal climates at low latitudes (< 32°N) are an inevitable consequence of seasonal migrations of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), but the character of these monsoons depends on continental configuration, orographic expression and the strength of Hadley circulation. To explore the evolution of monsoon systems across southern Asia we c...

Although the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition marks a critical point in the development of the ‘icehouse’ global climate of the present little is known about this important change in the terrestrial realm at low latitudes. Our palynological study of the Shangcun Formation shows it to be early Oligocene in age: palyno-assemblages in the lower par...

The Arctic hosts an extraordinary wealth of terrestrial fossil biotas of Late Cretaceous age representing a diverse and highly productive near-polar ecosystem that has no modern analogue. Compared to the rest of the Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian plant diversity was at its lowest and the temperature regime the coolest, yet the semi-open forests supp...

The Arman flora from the volcanogenic-sedimentary beds of the Arman Formation is systematically studied using materials from the Arman River basin and the Nelkandya-Khasyn interfluve (Magadan oblast, Northeastern Russia). Seventy-three species of fossil plants belonging to 49 genera are described. They consist of liverworts, horsetails, ferns, seed...

Floras of Oshin-Boro-Udzyur-Ula, Tsagan-Ovoo, and Nariin-Sukhait of Mongolia are reviewed. Their composition suggests a Middle Jurassic age for these floras. They resemble the synchronous floras of the West Siberian Province of the Siberian Paleofloristic Region. The boundary between this province and North Chinese Province of the same region shoul...

A new gall species, Paleogallus kamchaticus, from the Turonian of the Northwestern Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia), located on Compositiphyllum retinerve (Herman) Herman et Kvaček leaves, is described. The gall-forming process and basic principles of fossil galls classification are discussed.

The onset and development of the Asian monsoon systems is a topic that has attracted considerable research effort but proxy data limitations, coupled with a diversity of definitions and metrics characterizing monsoon phenomena, have generated much debate. Failure of geological proxies to yield metrics capable of distinguishing between rainfall seas...

The Kholokhovchan Flora comes from tuffaceous – terrigenous deposits of the Vetvinskaya Member (Chalbugchan Group) in the Penzhina and Oklan rivers interfluve, Northeastern Russia. The depositional environment of the plant-bearing deposits is interpreted to have been a freshwater lake. The Kholokhovchan Flora hosts 42 fossil plant species belonging...

Reconstructions of temperature and moisture regimes based on fossil leaves, combined with tree ring studies, detail the light regime, length of the growing season, and summer and winter temperatures of the Late Cretaceous Arctic. Such constraints have important implications for dinosaur feeding and reproductive behaviour, and the capacity to reside...

A revision of the angiosperm genus Menispermites from the Grebenka flora (the Krivorechenskaya Formation, late Albian-early Turonian) in Northeastern Russia based on our study of Kryshtofovich’s collection and our field observations allows us to recognize four species: M. minutus (Kryshtofovich) Shczepetov, Herman et Belaya, M. vasetskii Philippova...

AimEarly in their evolution, angiosperms evolved a diversity of leaf form far greater than that of any other group of land plants. Some of this diversity evolved in response to varying climate. Our aim is to test the global relationship between leaf form in woody dicot angiosperms and the climate in which they live.LocationWe have compiled a data s...

The Tsagan-Ovoo Flora from terrigenous, coal-bearing deposits of the Bakhar Formation, central Mongolia, is documented for the first time. The Tsagan-Ovoo Flora contains 32 megafossil plant taxa belonging to horsetails, ferns, cycadaleans, ginkgoaleans, leptostrobaleans, conifers and gymnosperms of unknown systematic affinity. The floristic composi...

The Cretaceous floras of northern Asia represented by the Antibes flora of the Chulym-Yenisei area of West Siberia, Kaivayam flora of northwestern Kamchatka, and Grebenka flora of the Anadyr River basin in Chukotka are reviewed. These floras characterize the Late Cretaceous Siberian-Canadian Paleofloristic Region, where they developed in humid warm...

The Arman’ flora belongs to the formation of the same name in the Arman’ River basin and Nel’khandzha–Khasyn interfluve. It includes about 80 fossil plant species. The similarity of this flora to the reliably dated fossil floras of northwestern Kamchatka and the Pekul’nei Range dates it to being Turonian and Coniacian in age, which is corroborated...

The stratigraphic settings, age, systematic composition, and periodisation of development of the Albian–Palaeocene floras in the Anadyr–Koryak (AKSR) and northern Alaska (NASR) subregions of the North Pacific are discussed. The high-resolution Upper Albian–Palaeocene phytostratigraphic schemes of these subregions are based on perceived phases of th...

Great effort has been expended in developing numerical Earth system (climate) models that, like weather forecasting models, are based on the laws of motion and energy conservation. Most model testing has been against historical meteorological records and proxy climate data extending back a few tens of thousands of years, but for most of that time t...

Principal attention is focused on phytostratigraphy and comparative palaeofloristics of the Anadyr-Koryak (AKSR) and Northern Alaska (NASR) subregions of the North Pacific Region. The high-resolution Upper Albian-Paleocene phytostratigraphic schemes of these subregions are based on perceived stages of their floral evolution. In the AKSR the scheme...

This work is aimed at characterizing the 40-m-thick Paleogene-Neogene sedimentary sequence of Bel'kov Island, which was accumulated in the marginal part of a fluvial plain. On the basis of the plant megafossils and spore-pollen data, the studied sediments were formed in the Late Eocene-Early Miocene with a probable sedimentation gap at the Eocene-O...

The Nariin-Sukhait Flora from the terrigenous, coal-bearing deposits of the Orgilokhbulag Formation in the Nariin-Sukhait Coalfield, southernmost Mongolia, is documented for the first time. The Nariin-Sukhait Flora contains 57 fossil plant species belonging to liverworts, horsetails, ferns, cycadaleans, bennettitaleans, ginkgoaleans, leptostrobalea...

Results of comprehensive study of the Kholokhovchan floral assemblage collection is summarized. These plant fossils were collected in 1978 by E. L. Lebedev from volcanogenic deposits in Penzhina and Oklan rivers interfluve, North-Eastern Russia. This assemblage was previously known as a list of Lebedev’s preliminary identifi cations only. He had su...

This paper discusses the results of investigations dealing with the features of the biosphere's evolution during the Phanerozoic carried out by members of the Geological Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences in the frameworks of Program no. 18 of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We concentrate on the four most important even...

The Arman Flora comes from volcanic-sedimentary deposits of the Arman Formation in the Arman River basin and from volcanic and volcanic-sedimentary rocks of the Nel’kandzha-Khasyn Interfluve. It comprises about 80 fossil plant species. The Arman Flora is dated as Turonian and Coniacian because of its similarity to the reliably dated Penzhina and Ka...

Palaeontology and evolution of the biodiversity in the Earth history (in museum context). Editor: S.V. Naugolnykh. Collection of scientific articles. Moscow: Geos. 2012. 150 p. The book includes articles devoted to evolution of biodiversity of different groups of fossil organisms from cyanobionts to mammals. Time interval of the material discussed...

Non-marine Late Cretaceous sediments from the Vilui Basin, Siberia, yield a diverse palynoflora of over 180 taxa, a third of which had a circum-polar distribution. The Vilui palynoflora belongs generally to the northerly Aquilapollenites Province admixed with minute Normapolles types, and comprises about 36–70% angiosperm pollen forms, indicating a...

The Arman’ Flora from volcanogenic-sedimentary deposits in the Arman’ River basin and Naraula Formation in the Nel’kandzha-Khasyn interfluve includes 82 species of fossil plants comprising liverworts, horsetails, ferns, caytonealeans, cycadaleans, ginkgoaleans, czekanowskialeans, conifers, gymnosperms incertae sedis, and angiosperms. The Arman’ Flo...

New data on systematic composition of the Cretaceous floras from Mesozoic depressions of Central Mongolia are discussed. Early Cretaceous flora from the Baganuur coal quarry has been studied for the first time. This flora comprises horsetails, ferns, ginkgoaleans, leptostrobaleans and conifers. On its systematic composition it resembles early Creta...

Late Cretaceous megafossil floras from the palaeo-Arctic of northeastern Russia and northern Alaska are reviewed in respect of their age, composition, structure and floral dynamics. Palaeofloral correlations and comparisons are made between the two regions. Nine angiosperm-rich, predominantly Cenomanian to Coniacian, floras from the palaeo-Arctic a...

Two mid-Cretaceous floras collected in terrigenous and volcaniclastic deposits of the Novosibirsk Islands in the Russian high Arctic were studied. These floras are the most poleward mid-Cretaceous floras known and existed at palaeolatitudes up to 82-85 °N. These represent our best insight into polar conditions at one of the warmest intervals in Ear...

The Arctic abounds with Late Cretaceous and Paleocene plant fossils attesting to a thriving, diverse, but now extinct polar ecosystem that sequestered vast amounts of carbon. Through detailed examination of plant remains and their distributions in time and space with respect to their entombing sedimentary facies, it has been possible to reconstruct...

For the first time, the Late Sagwon Flora is described from the upper beds of the Prince Creek Formation (Upper Paleocene) at the Sagavanirktok River (northern Alaska Peninsula). The flora is dominated by the angiosperm Tiliaephyllum brooksense Moiseeva et Herman sp. nov. and conifer Metasequoia occidentalis (Newb.) Chaney. The Late Sagwon Flora is...

The Aptian-Albian sediments of Kotel’nyi Island are represented by a terrigenous coaliferous complex with the apparent thickness of approximately 700 m. The upper two thirds of their section enclose ignimbrites and rhyolitic ash tuffs. The integral thickness of volcanics is 170 m. A new sequence composed largely of acidic volcanics and sedimentary...

Study of floral succession from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary interval in Russian Far East (Zeya-Bureya depression), Northeastern Russia (Koryak Upland), and Northern Alaska (Sagavanirktok River basin) is crucial for better understanding palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic factors, which controlled events in vegetation evolution at that time. T...

The Paleogene of the high paleo-Arctic provides valuable insights into the vegetation dynamics of one of the most climatically sensitive regions on Earth for past, present and future environmental change scenarios. At Sagwon Bluffs, (69°23’N, 148°43’W) Northern Alaska (Fig. 1), combined sedimentological and palynological data (Fig. 2) has identifie...

Geological evidence from the Late Cretaceous continental interior of the Vilui Basin, Siberia suggests a far wetter, warmer, and more equable annual climate than General Circulation Models (GCMs) can reproduce. The disparity cannot be bridged by the uncertainties inherent in either the models or the geological climate proxies. This implies the mism...

Validation of the species name Trochodendroides notabilis Herman, sp. nov. representing leaves of a dicotyledonous angiosperm is presented with a brief description of the fossil material.

The Albian-Paleocene phytostratigraphic scheme suggested in this work for the North Alaska Subregion of the North Pacific differs from the previous ones and includes three phytostratigraphic horizons of subregional extent and four plant-bearing beds. The scheme is based on distinguished successive stages in flora evolution, being substantiated by c...

Floras characterizing comparable evolutionary stages in the Anadyr-Koryak and North Alaska subregions of the North Pacific show some essential distinctions despite their similarity in general. Factors responsible for appearance of their distinctive features were most likely the paleoclimatic difference between the subregions and the constrained or...

The Grünbach flora from the Grünbach Formation of the Grünbach-Neue Welt Basin, Austria, is dated to the Early Campanian on the basis of foraminifers found in this formation and marine fossils serving as stratigraphic markers in the underlying (Maiersdorf Formation) and overlying (Piesting Formation) deposits. The Grünbach flora enumerates 53 speci...

The Early Campanian flora from the Grünbach Formation in the Grünbach-Neue Welt Basin in Lower Austria comprises 53 species, representing Equisetopsida, Polypodiopsida, Cycadopsida, Pinopsida, Liliopsida and Magnoliopsida. Palaeoclimatic analysis of the Grünbach fl ora using the nearest living relative (palms Arecaceae: Sabalites, pandans Pandanace...

Without Abstract

A new generic name, Friisicarpus N. Maslova et Herman, is proposed to replace Platanocarpus Friis, Crane, et Pedersen, 1988. Pistillate capitate inflorescences of Friisicarpus nom. nov. are reported from the Cenomanian of western Siberia for the first time. They are found in association with leaves of the typical Platanus-morphotype. Earlier, remai...

CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) is a powerful paleoclimate proxy with the ability to yield quantitative data on past temperatures, precipitation, growing season length, and humidity, as well as enthalpy (a property of a parcel of air that is useful in studies of paleoaltimetry). Commonly quoted uncertainties in CLAMP predictions...

The diagnostics of Cretaceous leaf remains of the platanoid type is complicated by their high polymorphism and the presence of macromorphological and epidermal characters that are lacking in the extant genus Platanus. The micromorphology of the reproductive organs that are associated with Cretaceous leaves of the platanoid type differs radically fr...

The extent to which the leaves of woody dicots encode in their physiognomy the climatic conditions that exist during dormancy was tested by sampling 20 sites along an approximately west-east transect across European Russia, the Crimean Peninsula, Western Siberia, and central Eastern Siberia. This transect encompassed the most extreme mean annual te...

Pistillate heads of Anadyticarpa altingiosimila gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Albian-Early Cenomanian of northeastern Russia are assigned to the Hamamelidaceae (Altingioideae) on the basis of their microstructure. The heads were found in association with leaves of "Platanus" louravetlanica Herman et Shezepetov and bark impressions. The phylogeneti...

Taphofloras of the Koryak Upland and the Sagwon Locality of North Alaska are described in terms of their taxonomic composition, stratigraphic ranges, and comparison with coeval floras of Northeastern Russia and Alaska. Causes and amplitude of changes in Arctic floras across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary are considered. In its aspect and taxonom...

Among restudied floras from the Kuk-Kaolak area, three taphofloras are defined. The "lower" one from members 1-4 including the Karmak and Kungok floras and the lower subassemblage of the Kuk flora (Smiley, 1966) is dated back to the middle-early late Albian. The "middle" taphoflora from members 5 and 6 comprising the upper Kuk subassemblage after S...