Barbara Mohr

Freie Universität Berlin | FUB

During the nineteenth century the role of women was very much restricted. In the geosciences, women were not able to study and thus even less able to publish. Here the work of one female writer is presented who, due to her upbringing in an intellectual family with close connections to the most celebrated scientists in Prussia/Germany, such as Alexa...

This paper is on the life and work of the Prussian Artist August von Heyden, a Berlin painter of the second half of the 19th century and his connections to the Berlin High Society, especially to the Imperial Court. During his life time he had received many commissions for the embellishment of Public buildings, including several rooms of the Berlin...

During the second half of the nineteenth century, geology was added as a topic taught at schools of higher education in central Europe. As a consequence, teachers had an interest in finding practical methods to make theoretical knowledge more interesting to their pupils. Pedagogic tools included fieldtrips which could be logistically challenging, a...

Ernst & Clementine Helm Beyrich were prominent members of the Berlin society during the 19th century. Clementine Helm published more than 40 books in which she propagates a good education for girls, including natural sciences and she fought for various progressive thinking including the acceptance of evolution as an idea, and against racism and dis...

August von Heyden's (1827-1897) life was exceptional in several ways. His first career as a geologist and mining engineer gave him inspirations for his second career as a painter. Partly he found the themes for his oeuvre in his immediate surrounding, namely in- and outside of mines, which made him a chronicler of mining activities for his times. T...

Fossil plant material was collected during the 1980s in Egypt and preliminarily described as a putative member of Araceae. Reexamination of the collections led to the discovery of new specimens and preparation of the material provided new characters confirming the araceous affinities of the fossil. The morphology of these leaves, especially the ven...

Talk on textbooks of geosciences and astronomy which mirror to some degree the politics of the times.

Geological records from the Antarctic margin offer direct evidence of environmental variability at high southern latitudes and provide insight regarding ice sheet sensitivity to past climate change. The early to mid-Miocene (23–14 Mya) is a compelling interval to study as global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations were similar to those...

School)textbooks reflect beside the knowledge of their times, general beliefs and political views. This is seen to a high degree in school books on astronomy and geosciences which seem to be at first sight apolitical. However their state of art and even their existence are of utmost political relevance. In the paper we want to discuss some results...

Life and work of Clara Ehrenberg, daughter of the micropaleontologist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.

Fossil leaf material was collected during the 1980s in northern Sudan and described as Proteaephyllum sagenopteroides. The revision of the type material and other specimens from the same collection led to a new interpretation of this taxon. The morphology of these leaves, especially the venation pattern of several vein orders, has been compared wit...

Coniferales are represented during the Early Cretaceous in northern South America both by macrofossils and palynomorphs of the families Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae. Fossils of Cheirolepidiaceae are often abundant in coastal deposits; plants of this family are considered to have grown under semiarid to arid climate conditions because of char...

Description of women’s role in popularizing science in Central Europe.

Extraordinarily well preserved fern macrofossils of Ruffordia goeppertii (Dunker) Seward (Schizaeales, Anemiaceae) are described from the Lower Cretaceous (late Aptian) Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation, northeast Brazil. The identification is based on the morphology of macrofossils and in situ spores, taken from organically preserved mater...

As part of a physical and historical reconstruction of a fossil collection, we demonstrate how elucidating biographic aspects of the collector and describing the activities of the institution can expand our understanding of collections as natural, social and historical assemblages. We then show how this understanding can be applied to contemporary...

Hexagyne philippiana gen. et sp. nov. represents the first macrofossil piperalean taxon from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian). The fossil material from northern Gondwana consists of a twig with well-preserved leaves and a characteristic venation pattern plus a twig with attached leaves and several flowers combined in a raceme. The new taxon shares man...

Morphology and anatomy of a fossil monocotyledon from the late Early Cretaceous and extant monocots are compared. Anatomy was examined based on publications, while leaf morphology, especially the venation, required new observations on fresh and herbarium material. Spixiarum kipea gen. et sp. nov. belongs most likely to Araceae, and may be sister to...

The late Aptian (approx. 112 - 115 Ma) fauna and flora of the Crato fossil Lagerstätte (northeastern Brazil) has been studied intensely. It is one of the few localities that is located in a near palaeoequatorial position and thus of great interest for climate reconstructions for the late Early Cretcaceous. The lacustrine plattenkalk limestone conta...

A fossil angiosperm from the Aptian Crato Formation (Brazil), Schenkeriphyllum glanduliferum n. gen. n. sp. is described and phylogenetically analyzed. The taxon consists of branching axes with attached simple sessile, sheathing, narrowly ovate glanduliferous leaves with ethereal oil cells and solitary axillary medium sized flowers. Several of the...

Morphology and anatomy of a fossil nymphaealean plant, Jaguariba wiersemana gen. nov. et sp. nov. from the late Early Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil, and extant aquatic flowering plants are comparatively studied. Characteristic features indicate that Jaguariba gen. nov. is a member of Nymphaeaceae, and may belong to Nymphaeoideae. The occurrence...

A new fossil gnetophyte, Friedsellowia gracilifolia gen. nov. et sp. nov. from the Crato Formation (northeast Brazil) is described. Several, nearly complete specimens, including seedlings, young and more mature plants are preserved with roots, axes, leaves and reproductive organs. A fully grown plant probably reached more than one metre in height,...

During the Early Cretaceous, tropical and polar temperatures were high and there is a gradual warming since the Aptian-Albian boundary to the Cenomanian, with major change in global paleogeography resulting from the disruption of Gondwana, changes in ocean currents and intense orogeny. These events influenced the continental patterns of wind and ra...

A new gymnosperm taxon from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Aptian to possibly lower Albian) Crato Formation of Brazil, Duartenia araripensis gen. nov. et sp. nov. is described. The most prominent specimen, a branch with attached lateral branches of higher orders exhibits a distinct anisotomous branching pattern. The very dense wood is composed of trac...

Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island and plans for a future drilling project.

The flowering plants that dominate modern vegetation possess leaf gas exchange potentials that far exceed those of all other living or extinct plants. The great divide in maximal ability to exchange CO(2) for water between leaves of nonangiosperms and angiosperms forms the mechanistic foundation for speculation about how angiosperms drove sweeping...

RESUMO Análises de interações inseto-planta, com base em marcas exibidas por fitofósseis ninfealeanos da Formação Crato, bacia do Araripe, são realizadas preliminar e pioneiramente. Essas marcas foram observadas, desenhadas, fotografadas e classificadas segundo literatura. Paralelamente, foram levantados os principais grupos atuais de insetos danif...

RESUMO Análises de interações inseto-planta, com base em marcas exibidas por fitofósseis ninfealeanos da Formação Crato, bacia do Araripe, são realizadas preliminar e pioneiramente. Essas marcas foram observadas, desenhadas, fotografadas e classificadas segundo literatura. Paralelamente, foram levantados os principais grupos atuais de insetos danif...

The late Early Cretaceous Santana Formation fossil Lagerstätte of north-east Brazil’s Araripe Basin is known for its diverse aquatic vertebrate assemblage, but little is known of the palaeoenvironment of the surrounding hinterland of the basin. Isolated gymnosperm tracheids in acid-resistant residues from concretions of Romualdo Member of the Santa...

The lives and work and accomplishments of three women, Clementine Helm Beyrich, Clara Ehrenberg and Ina von Grumbkow Reck are described. All three were writers who in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries significantly contributed to the field of natural history and palaeontology even though they were not academically trained. Their wor...

The first fossiliferous African amber deposit has been discovered in the Cretaceous of Ethiopia. Amber pieces of up to 25 cm occur within the Debre Libanos Sandstone Unit, exposed in the Wenchit River valley near Alem Ketema in the northwestern Plateau of Ethiopia. Analysis of independent age-relevant information from the amber itself, its inclusio...

Amber is of great paleontological importance because it preserves a diverse array of organisms and associated remains from different habitats in and close to the amber-producing forests. Therefore, the discovery of amber inclusions is important not only for tracing the evolutionary history of lineages with otherwise poor fossil records, but also fo...

Vegetative and fertile shoots of a shrub-like seed plant from the late Aptian Crato Formation of Brazil are described as Cearania heterophylla Kunzmann, Mohr and Bernardes-de-Oliveira, gen. nov. et sp. nov. Anatomical details of the axes, epidermal features and separate ovulate and pollen producing organs indicate the gymnospermous nature of this p...

A historical collection of late Cretaceous plant fossils from Lower Silesia, comprising about 520 specimens, now located at the Museum of Natural History, Berlin, and formerly in possession of the Prussian Geological Survey, has recently been traced back to its origins. Today this collection can be used as a nucleus to develop future scientific res...

The megafossil record of Chamaecyparis (Cupressaceae) in the Northern Hemisphere, especially that in Europe, is reviewed with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the biogeographic history of this genus and providing an explanation of the causes of eastern Asian and western and eastern North American intercontinental disjunction of extant m...

An exceptional triple palynological signal (unusually high abundance of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial palynomorphs) recovered from a core collected during the 2007 ANDRILL (Antarctic geologic drilling program) campaign in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, provides constraints for the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. Compared to elsewhere in the core,...

The palaeontological yield of the 1138.54 metre-long AND-2A sedimentary rock core provides unique documentation of Neogene environments in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. Especially important is the biological legacy of the climatically crucial 'mild' middle Miocene phase. Diatom-bearing units provide key information for stratigraphie intervals...

An exceptional triple palynological signal (unusually high abundance of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial palynomorphs) recovered from a core collected during the 2007 ANDRILL (Antarctic geologic drilling program) campaign in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, provides constraints for the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. Compared to elsewhere in the core,...

The change from a warm, ice-free greenhouse world to the glacial Antarctic icehouse occurred during the latest Eocene–earliest Oligocene. Prior to this, during the Early–Middle Eocene, Antarctica experienced warm climates, at least on the margins of the continent where geological evidence is present. Climates appear to have been warm and wet, the s...

The ‘Rühle collection’ is one of the largest remaining historical collections of Central European Triassic fossils and is now located at the Berlin Museum of Natural History (MfN). The collector, Hugo Rühle von Lilienstern, a medical doctor who lived in southern Thuringia, was a dedicated palaeontologist. From the 1950s his home and collection area...

A fossil herbaceous angiosperm, Pluricarpellatia peltata gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil. The description is based on several nearly complete specimens with roots, cordate, excentrically peltate to centrally peltate leaves, and flowering structures with in situ seeds. The seeds are smo...

Fossil conifers from the Early Cretaceous, most likely late Aptian, Crato Formation were studied. The excellent preservation of several of those fossils allowed detailed investigations of the leaf epidermis by light microscope (LM) and by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Members of two conifer taxa were recognized: The Araucariaceae are represen...

Am 27 Februar 2004 verstarb nach mehrwöchiger schwerer Krankheit unerwartet unsere Kollegin Gusti Burmann. Sie war eine enorme fleißige Person, streitbar und unbeugsam, aber auch diskussionsfreudig und zugewandt. Mit ihrer burschikosen Art und ihrem Berliner Humor war sie eine echte, weithin hörbare "Berliner Schnauze".doi:10.1002/mmng.20040070112

In dieser Untersuchung werden beispielhaft die Lebenswege und Karrieren von Berliner Geowissenschaftlerinnen im Zeitraum von 1906 bis 1945 nachgezeichnet und analysiert. Ähnlich wie an anderen deutschen bzw. westlichen Universitäten, aber im Gegensatz zu Russland, begann die Tätigkeit von Frauen in den Geowissenschaften spät, und das Fach wurde auc...

The visibility of life forms in the fossil record is largely determined by the extent to which they were mineralised at the time of their death. In addition to mineral structures, many fossils nonetheless contain detectable amounts of residual water or organic molecules, the analysis of which has become an integral part of current palaeontological...

Sterile and fertile shoots of a seed plant from the Late Aptian Crato Formation of Brazil are described as Novaolindia dubia Kunzmann, Mohr and Bernardes-de-Oliveira, gen. et sp. nov. These shoots bear both simple lanceolate and unique trilobed leaves. The leaf epidermis and epidermis of the axis reveal mostly anomocytic stomata arranged in simple...

A new leaf impression flora is described from late Miocene marly sediments (6-7.5 Ma) near the village of Vrysses in northwestern Crete, Greece. The studied plant remains represent more than 30 taxa of conifers and angiosperms. Deciduous broad-leaved woody plants such as Acer pseudomonspessulanum, 5-lobed Acer, Ziziphus ziziphoides, "Parrotia" pris...

The visibility of life forms in the fossil record is largely determined by the extent to which they were mineralised at the time of their death. In addition to mineral structures, many fossils nonetheless contain detectable amounts of residual water or organic molecules, the analysis of which has become an integral part of current palaeontological...

In palaeopalynology oaks are rarely identified beyond the generic level. In order to recognize fossil evergreen and deciduous oak pollen, we compiled distinguishing criteria from the literature, most under the SEM, on the living oaks. One of the most significant criteria is the nature of the sculpturing under the SEM. Evergreen oak pollen exhibit a...

Introduction Plant fossils from the Crato Formation are not only remarkable because of their beauty, but equally because of their scientific value, being on the cusp of the gymnosperm decline and the angiosperm radiation. Many of these fossils are preserved more or less entire, often with roots, stems, leaves, sporangia and flowering structures att...

Conifers are common in the Early Cretaceous Crato flora. Sterile foliage shoots of several morphotypes occur. Good preservation of several of these specimens allows detailed morphological and anatomical studies. Based on these characters, two taxa of Cheirolepidiaceae, Tomaxellia biforme and Frenelopsis sp., are identified. The palaeogeographic dis...

Conifers are common in the Early Cretaceous Crato flora. Sterile foliage shoots of several morphotypes occur. Good preservation of several of these specimens allows detailed morphological and anatomical studies. Based on these characters, two taxa of Cheirolepidiaceae, Tomaxellia biforme and Frenelopsis sp., are identified. The palaeogeographic dis...

An emended description, new combinations and a synonymy list of the late Early Cretaceous angiosperm Klitzschophyllites Lejal-Nicol, 1987, possibly an early monocot with a southern Laurasian and north Gondwanan distribution, is given. The morphological features of Klitzschophyllites, such as the coriaceous, spinose, glanduliferous leaves, are analy...

Marlies Teichmüller, née Köster (1914 Herne-2000 Krefeld), was one of the few women geologists in Germany who as early as the 1940s had a successful scientific career. To accomplish this unusual career path various prerequisites had to be met. Besides a strong character and talent, the support of her family proved to be crucial. Her childhood that...

A fossil angiosperm from the Brazilian Crato Formation, Endressinia brasiliana n. gen. n. sp., is described. The fossil consists of a branching axis with attached simple, narrowly ovate leaves and several terminal small flowers. One of these multiparted flowering structures is well preserved and seems close to anthesis. Tepals, staminodes, and apoc...