Although a wide variety of topics is studied, three main themes are to be mentioned specifically. These are:
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The fossil flora of Rhynie, a 400 Million year old flora, which contains a wide diversity of taxa varying from unicellular fungi to the earliest anatomically preserved higher land plants and animal remains. Together they provide a unique picture of life in the Early Devonian. |
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Cuticles of late Palaeozoic gymnosperms are often the only source of information on the cellular organisation in compression material. The epidermal cell patterns displayed in the overlying cuticle provide important information on the natural relationships of taxa, their ecology and palaeoclimate. |
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The natural relationships of late Palaeozoic gymnosperms. The gymnosperms are a group of plants which underwent a strong differentiation during the Late Carboniferous and Permian and they dominated the Earth's vegetation for most of the Mesozoic. |
Several project are funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Science Foundation) and cooperations with many, mostly foreign colleagues are well established.