European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference 2026

The plant fossil record is, by its very nature, fragmentary, but some pieces of this puzzle preserve morphological and/or anatomical characters that provide direct insights into the ecology and physiology of extinct taxa. This "functional approach" allows paleobotanists to study plant evolution in a way that complements systematics, seeing fossil plants as once-living organisms that interacted...

The greatest diversity losses in Earth’s history occurred at the end of the Paleozoic Era, during the end-Permian extinction event (EPE). For life on land, plants are unparalleled archivists of the EPE, preserving evidence of ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity and biogeography changes, climatic instability, and carbon cycle (dys)function.

The EPE is characterized by the largest climate-state...

Direct evidence of animal–flower interactions in the fossil record is rare, but pollen preserved on or inside fossil animals provides unique insight into the evolution of pollination systems through time. In recent years, there has been accumulating evidence of flower visitation from the Cenozoic fossil record, and fossil flies, beetles, bees, birds, and bats bearing pollen have been...

This keynote addresses the changing reality of palynology and palaeobotany through a historical lens. Drawing on examples from conference records, institutional structures, and personal accounts from the 1900s onward, it highlights a period in which both fields flourished. In contrast, the present landscape is increasingly characterised by fragmentation, specialisation, and reduced...