Hendrik Nowak

• PhD
• Researcher at University of Nottingham

Terrestrial ecosystems underwent extreme shifts in composition, following extensive degassing associated with the Siberian Traps near the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB). These climatic perturbations are recorded in land plant macrofossil assemblages, which reflect complex changes in major biomes at the stage level. In this study, we quantitatively...

During the Permian, climate experienced a change from icehouse to greenhouse conditions. Few multidisciplinary studies have investigated Kungurian (late Cisuralian) tropical terrestrial ecosystem and climate changes. Here, we apply an interdisciplinary approach to two alluvial-lacustrine successions of the Athesian Volcanic Group (Southern Alps, no...

The Middle to Upper Triassic successions of Europe have yielded several rich and well-preserved palaeofloras in which fertile fronds of marattialean ferns with conspicuous sporangia are common components. Here we describe the in situ spores of several marattialean fern species from these floras belonging to the genera Asterotheca, Merianopteris, Da...

Four species of lycophytes have been described from the palaeoflora of the Anisian Dont Formation at the Kühwiesenkopf/Monte Prà della Vacca section in the Dolomites (northern Italy); Isoetites brandneri, Lepacyclotes bechstaedtii (both Isoëtaceae), Selaginellites leonardii (Selaginellaceae), and Lycopia dezanchei (order and family indet.). For I....

The analysis of organic matter particles (palynofacies) and sporomorphs (pollen grains and spores) deposited and preserved in the sedimentary rocks allow to reconstruct past vegetation and environments. In the Southern Alps (Trentino-Alto Adige), rocks of a mega caldera (Athesian Volcanic Group) crop out. A more than 2000 meters thick succession wa...

A lycopsid reproductive organ from the Koipato Group in the southern Humboldt Range, Nevada, is described. It was found in fine-grained volcanogenic turbitides of mid-Spathian age derived from the Koipato volcanic arc. The strobilus is preserved as an imprint with small amounts of organic material. The shape of the reproductive organ, as well as th...

Spores or pollen from a single species or even an individual plant or sporangium may vary in morphology and size to a point that equivalent forms found dispersed in the sediment have been described as different species or even genera. In addition, not all these organs were mature at the moment of burial, and therefore they do not always contain com...

It has long been recognized that terrestrial floras underwent major and long-lasting changes during the Permian and Triassic, some of which have been attributed to the end-Permian mass extinction. However, these changes are still poorly understood with regard to the late Permian and Early Triassic. In particular, the impact that ecological disturba...

In this paper, we provide an overview of the historically known Triassic floras from the Eastern Southern Alps (e.g., Raibl and Recoaro), as well as the newer macro- and micro-plant assemblages that have been recorded during the 20th and 21st centuries. This includes some specimens stored in various European museums. The plant assemblages are prese...

The Laurinswand section in the Rosengarten/Catinaccio Massif (Dolomites, Southern Alps, Italy) covers the Permian–Triassic boundary in a proximal marine setting. The section has been studied for palynology, ostracods and carbonate microfacies. Five microfacies types are defined for the carbonates of the Bellerophon Formation (Changhsingian) in this...

We here provide an overview of the stratigraphic distribution of fossil floras from the Permian and Triassic found so far in the Southern Alps (mostly northern Italy), including macrofossils as well as spore/pollen assemblages.

The Carboniferous floras of the Carnic Alps have been studied for more than 240 years. Hohenwart indicated already in 1783 the presence of plant fossils from the area of the Stanglalpe in the context of a botanical excursion. Boué (1835) described for the first time plant fossils from the Carnic Alps, emphasizing the diversity and richness of the f...

A three-year research project has been conducted to examine the Permian–Triassic boundary interval in various outcrops across the Southern and Eastern Alps and across different palaeoenvironmental settings with a multidisciplinary approach. The study area includes the Dolomites and Carnic Alps of Northern Italy (Southern Alps) and the Lienz Dolomit...

The most severe mass extinction among animals took place in the latest Permian (ca. 252 million years ago). Due to scarce and impoverished fossil floras from the earliest Triassic, the common perception has been that land plants likewise suffered a mass extinction, but doubts remained. Here we use global occurrence data of both plant macro- and mic...

This paper provides a guide to the field trip of the 2018 edition of the Paleodays, the annual congress of the Società Paleontologica Italiana (Trento, 6–8 June 2018), dedicated to the terrestrial ecosystems of the Dolomites between the late Permian and the Middle Triassic. It is structured into three stops (Fig. 1). We will first visit two outcrop...

Terrestrial floras underwent important changes during the Lopingian (Late Permian), Early Triassic, and Middle Triassic, i.e., before, during, and after the end-Permian mass extinction. An accurate account of these developments requires reliable correlation. Macrofossils of land plants can only provide a low-resolution biostratigraphy, while detail...

The Fezouata Lagerstätte, discovered in the Lower Ordovician rocks of Morocco, is a Konservat-Lagerstätte of prime scientific importance. It provides access not only to the ‘shelly’ (skeletonized) part of its fossil assemblages, but also to non-biomineralized to lightly sclerotized organisms and to exceptionally preserved soft tissues of a complex...

First Appearance Datums (FADs) of selected, easily recognizable acritarch morphotypes are assessed to determine their potential contribution to correlation between Lower and Middle Ordovician stages and substage divisions along the Gondwanan margin (Perigondwana) and between Perigondwana and other palaeocontinents. The FADs for 19 genera, species a...

The Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) Winneshiek Shale from Winneshiek County, Iowa, USA, hosts a Konservat-Lagerstätte that has yielded a diverse fauna including soft-bodied fossils. The shale is rich in organic content; in particular, algal material and fragmentary cuticular remains. Palynological acid treatment alongside modified, low-manipulation...

Previous studies on the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) Konservat-Lagerstätte of the Winneshiek Shale in Iowa (USA) have reported various animal and trace fossils. A search for “small carbonaceous fossils” (SCFs) in palynological samples from the Winneshiek Shale has now led to the discovery of several different kinds of organic-walled microfossils...

This study documents conodont faunas of the Fezouata Formation, recovered from the AZ-1 borehole at Adrar Zouggar Mountain and from outcrops near Zagora in south-eastern Morocco. The Fezouata Formation was deposited on the peri-Gondwanan shelf near the South Pole during Early Ordovician times. It is composed of mostly fine-grained siliciclastics an...

The present study documents new palynological investigations of the Fezouata Shale from the Anti-Atlas (Morocco). Palynomorphs were extracted from samples collected from both outcrops and drill cuttings. Outcrop samples were taken near Zagora, and include some that were collected during excavation of stratigraphic horizons where exceptionally well-...

The Lower Ordovician Fezouata Konservat-Lagerstätte from southern Morocco has been one of the major palaeontological discoveries of the last decade. It provides a unique insight into one of the most critical periods in the evolution of marine life: the Cambrian-Ordovician transition. However, its potential for deciphering key trends in animal diver...

The upper Tremadocian to lower Floian messaoudensis.trifidum acritarch assemblage was first described from the Skiddaw Group of England and subsequently from several localities on the Gondwanan margin that were positioned in high southern latitudes during the Early Ordovician. It is here reported for the first time from North Africa, from the Fezou...

Au cours des années 2000, la découverte de nombreux gisements à préservation exceptionnelle dans la Formation des Fezouata (Ordovicien inférieur), dans la région de Zagora (Anti-Atlas central, Maroc), a permisde documenter, pour la première fois, des assemblages marins particulièrement riches et diversifiés, dont la préservation est comparable à ce...

The Lower Ordovician Fezouata Biota (central Anti-Atlas, Morocco) is the sole exceptionally preserved marine fossil assemblage of Burgess Shale type so far known from post-Cambrian rocks. It offers a unique opportunity to document the transition between the Cambrian and Palaeozoic evolutionary faunas. Recent fieldwork in the area north of Zagora ha...