UNLOCKING THE FOSSIL RECORD WITH MICRO-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC 3D DATASETS OF MODERN AND FOSSIL PLANTS

Fossils provide critical data to understand broad patterns of biodiversity, biogeography, ecology, and evolution over geological time scales. Much of this information, however, depends on an accurate placement of fossils within a phylogenetic framework and comparison between localities and preservation states to overcome sampling issues due to various preservation states. Synchrotron-based or industrial X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT) is a particularly useful tool for studying fossil plant material because it is non-destructive, rapid, and provides both 2D and 3D morphoanatomical data. In addition, this technique is enhancing collections by creating a lasting record of specimen data in case of compromised integrity, and enabling virtual sharing and examination of material. MicroCT has been used on variety of paleobotanical materials including charcoalifications, permineralizations in carbonates and cherts, and compression fossils. Virtual dissections of fossils, and creation of virtual fossils, generate hypotheses of expected morphologies from either extant or extinct taxa, revealing cryptic morphologies, which provide “search images” so that we may recognize fossils and correctly place them in a taxonomic and phylogenetic framework. While microCT is becoming more widely used in paleobotany, here, examples from the Cretaceous-Paleogene Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India demonstrate how microCT is helping to understand the paleobiodiversity at these localities. Studies of specific groups, like the Arecales (palms) and Zingiberales (gingers, bananas, and relatives), illustrate the power of microCT in assembling large comparative datasets to place critical fossils in a phylogenetic context. MicroCT is an invaluable tool for paleobotanical studies, enhancing to our ability to study museum specimens and build comparative datasets to elucidate broader patterns of diversity and evolution gleaned from the fossil record.