Evolution and Importance of Wetlands in Earth History: Special Paper of The Geological Society of America January 2006

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Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history
Article in Special Paper of the Geological Society of America · January 2006

DOI: 10.1130/2006.2399(01)
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Geological Society of America
Special Paper 399
2006
Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history
Stephen F. Greb
Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRB University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA
William A. DiMichele
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA
Robert A. Gastaldo
Department of Geology, Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901-8858, USA
ABSTRACT
The fossil record of wetlands documents unique and long-persistent floras and
faunas with wetland habitats spawning or at least preserving novel evolutionary char-
acteristics and, at other times, acting as refugia. In addition, there has been an evolu-
tion of wetland types since their appearance in the Paleozoic. The first land plants,
beginning in the Late Ordovician or Early Silurian, were obligate dwellers of wet
substrates. As land plants evolved and diversified, different wetland types began to
appear. The first marshes developed in the mid-Devonian, and forest swamps origi-
nated in the Late Devonian. Adaptations to low-oxygen, low-nutrient conditions
allowed for the evolution of fens (peat marshes) and forest mires (peat forests) in
the Late Devonian. The differentiation of wetland habitats created varied niches that
influenced the terrestrialization of arthropods in the Silurian and the terrestrializa-
tion of tetrapods in the Devonian (and later), and dramatically altered the way sedi-
mentological, hydrological, and various biogeochemical cycles operated globally.
Widespread peatlands evolved in the Carboniferous, with the earliest ombrotro-
phic tropical mires arising by the early Late Carboniferous. Carboniferous wetland-
plant communities were complex, and although the taxonomic composition of these
wetlands was vastly different from those of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, these commu-
nities were essentially structurally, and probably dynamically, modern. By the Late
Permian, the spread of the Glossopteris flora and its adaptations to more temperate or
cooler climates allowed the development of mires at higher latitudes, where peats are
most common today. Although widespread at the end of the Paleozoic, peat-forming
wetlands virtually disappeared following the end-Permian extinction.
The initial associations of crocodylomorphs, mammals, and birds with wetlands
are well recorded in the Mesozoic. The radiation of Isoetales in the Early Triassic may
have included a submerged lifestyle and hence, the expansion of aquatic wetlands.
The evolution of heterosporous ferns introduced a floating vascular habit to aquatic
wetlands. The evolution of angiosperms in the Cretaceous led to further expansion
of aquatic species and the first true mangroves. Increasing diversification of angio-
sperms in the Tertiary led to increased floral partitioning in wetlands and a wide
Greb, S.F., DiMichele, W.A., and Gastaldo, R.A., 2006, Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history, in Greb, S.F., and DiMichele, W.A., Wetlands
through time: Geological Society of America Special Paper 399, p. 1–40, doi: 10.1130/2006.2399(01). For permission to copy, contact [email protected].
©2006 Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.
1
2 S.F. Greb, W.A. DiMichele, and R.A. Gastaldo
variety of specialized wetland subcommunities. During the Tertiary, the spread of

grasses, rushes, and sedges into wetlands allowed for the evolution of freshwater and
salt-water reed marshes. Additionally, the spread of Sphagnum sp. in the Cenozoic
allowed bryophytes, an ancient wetland clade, to dominate high-latitude mires, creat-
ing some of the most widespread mires of all time. Recognition of the evolution of wet-
land types and inherent framework positions and niches of both the flora and fauna is
critical to understanding both the evolution of wetland functions and food webs and
the paleoecology of surrounding ecotones, and is necessary if meaningful analogues
are to be made with extant wetland habitats.
Keywords: paleobotany, paleoecology, paleoflora, earth history, wetlands, coal,

swamp, mire, marsh, fen, bog.
INTRODUCTION a starting point for discussion of paleowetlands. The terms are

similar to wetland classes in the hierarchical Canadian wetland
Modern wetlands are characterized by water at or near the system (Zoltai and Pollett, 1983). Such hierarchical classifica-
soil surface for some part of the year, soils that are influenced by tions are commonly used to describe modern wetlands. In the
water saturation all or part of the year, and plants that are adapted context of characterizing paleowetlands on the basis of standard-
to living in conditions of water saturation all or part of the year ized wetland classifications, additional modifiers such as marine,
(National Research Council, 1995; Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and estuarine, riverine, palustrine, and lacustrine are used where
Gosselink, 2000). Many wetlands occupy lowlands and natural appropriate for comparison to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife wetland
depressions, so have a relatively high preservational potential. It classification (Cowardin et al., 1979). Modifiers such as marine/
is not surprising, then, that a large part of the fossil record of coastal and inland are used where appropriate to indicate relative
terrestrial flora and fauna (especially in the Paleozoic) is found equivalence to wetlands in the Ramsar Convention classification.
within wetlands or wetland-associated habitats. These deposits Modifiers also are used to describe wetland forms, types, and
provide windows into ancient biodiversity, but frequently rep- varieties as described in the Canadian system or to describe form,
resent a mix of allochthonous and autochthonous material from hydrology, or nutrient status for peat-producing wetlands (Gore,
different ecosystems. In order to examine the importance of 1983; Moore, 1989, 1995; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). Each of
wetlands through time, it is important to recognize that there are the modern systems is designed for different purposes, so varied
many different types of wetlands and wetland functions, and that modifiers from each are used to describe clearly paleowetlands
both have changed through time. discussed in this report.
Types of Wetlands Wetland Functions
Holocene wetlands have been classified variously over the Modern wetlands provide many critical functions in global
past several decades, with workers on different continents and ecology, including providing habitat and food for diverse spe-
in different hemispheres using a range of terms to classify wet- cies, and aiding in groundwater recharge and water retention and
lands on the basis of hydrology, geography, and flora, among detention, which allows for maintenance of high water tables in
other criteria. Unfortunately, variable definitions and terminol- wetlands as well as reduced flooding in adjacent ecosystems.
ogy can lead to uncertain or mistaken use of analogues when They also provide erosion and sedimentation controls between
interpreting the paleoecology of ancient wetlands. For the pur- adjacent ecosystems, improve water quality through filtering
poses of this investigation, we use the following general termi- sediment and metals from groundwater, and cycle nutrients to
nology adapted from Keddy (2000): aquatic (or shallow water) terrestrial and aqueous environments within the wetland and
wetland for wetlands dominated by submerged vegetation under between ecotones (National Research Council, 1995; Keddy,
continually inundated conditions; marsh for wetlands dominated 2000; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). Wetlands are also important
by herbaceous, emergent vegetation rooted in mineral (non-peat) global sources, sinks, and transformers of various elements in the
substrates; swamp for forested wetlands on mineral (non-peat) earth’s various biogeochemical cycles (National Research Coun-
substrates; fen or nonforested mire for wetlands dominated by cil, 1995; Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). As full or
herbaceous or shrub vegetation on peat substrates. Because there part-time habitats, they function as a significant repository of
is considerable variability in the use of the term bog (Keddy, the world’s biodiversity (Bacon, 1997; Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and
2000; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000), the term forest mire is used Gosselink, 2000). These functions are important not only within
herein for forested peats. These general terms can have a wide the wetlands themselves, but also to surrounding ecosystems. Not
array of meanings (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000) but serve as all functions are equally distributed through the different types
Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history 3
of wetlands, and many are influenced by particular floras and tions. These adaptations have changed through time. In some
faunas. Because the floras, faunas, and types of wetlands have cases, novel floral adaptations have led to new types of wetlands,
evolved through time, wetland functions have changed through wetland functions, and wetland faunal niches.
time, as well.
Purpose
Wetland Niches and Associations
Herein the evolution of wetland ecosystems through time
The variety of organisms adapted to various wetland habi- is analyzed. We focus on the development of new and changing
tats is large and includes all major groups of animals and plants wetland ecosystems, which accompanied the evolution of the ter-
(Bacon, 1997). Herein, we examine the evolution of some com- restrial flora and, in turn, influenced the evolution of numerous
mon wetland faunal and floral associations. Changes in wetland animal groups through the evolution of new niche space, food
niches and associations have occurred as the various adaptive sources, and habitat. The unusual chemistry and sedimentology
strategies of plants and animals have evolved. In some cases, the of wetland systems resulted in a wide variety of traps in which
extant wetland biota lives under conditions similar to those of both fauna and flora are preserved. Significant wetland fossil sites
ancient wetland plants and animals. In others, framework posi- that offer snapshots of ancient biodiversity and paleoecology are
tions or habitats have evolved through specialization, resulting in also highlighted in order to illustrate the importance of wetland
new wetland types and functions. ecosystems to our understanding of earth history. Likewise, we
examine the origins and changing influences of specific wetland
Analyses of Paleowetlands functions through time to illustrate the potential importance of
wetland ecosystems on neighboring ecosystems and in some
There has been extensive research on ancient wetlands, cases, global paleoecology. The fossil record is our best tool for
mostly centered on coals because of their economic value. Sev- understanding how changes in wetland distribution, type, niches,
eral papers have specifically examined floral change in coal-form- and functions influence non-wetland ecosystems, which is par-
ing floras through time, sometimes concentrating on a particular ticularly important when trying to understand potential long-term
era (e.g., Shearer et al., 1995) or region (e.g., Cross and Phillips, natural and anthropogenic influences on global ecology.
1990). Some reports also have used various aspects of coal dis-
tribution through time to further understanding of global changes ORDOVICIAN-SILURIAN
in tectonics, climate, and eustasy (e.g., Scotese, 2001). In terms
of wetlands, such reviews tend to be focused on peat-forming Prevascular Wetlands
mires, which represent a subset of wetland types. In fact, coals
are often generalized as representing wetlands, which has the The origin of land plants appears to have occurred in the
unfortunate result of marginalizing the significance of non-coal Late Ordovician to Middle Silurian, involving pre-tracheophyte,
facies as wetlands of importance. The understanding that coal embrophytic or bryophytic (moss, lichen) plants that were obli-
floras and “roof” shale floras represent different types of wet- gate dwellers of wet substrates (Gray et al., 1982; Gensel and
lands (e.g., Gastaldo, 1987), emphasizes that non-peat producing Andrews, 1984; Taylor, 1988; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993;
wetlands are well represented in the fossil record. In some cases, Tomescu and Rothwell, this volume). Whether these prevascular
at different times in earth history, these non-peat producing wet- plant-vegetated substrates can be considered wetlands depends
lands may have been more important, in terms of their functions on the definition used, and Retallack (1992) has proposed a sepa-
and influences on ecotones, than mires. rate terminology for the associated paleosols. If a “wetland” can
Numerous botanical and biogeographical studies have dem- be defined simply as consisting of vegetation on a wet substrate,
onstrated how changing climate or timing of tectonic movements then this habitat has its origin with these vascular precursors.
changed the composition of Tertiary floras (including wetland Using the classification scheme of Cowardin et al. (1979), these
inhabitants) in different areas (e.g., Aaron et al., 1999). In terms habitats come closest to representing fluvial and paludal moss-
of climate, it also is important to understand the bias imposed lichen wetlands in which mosses or lichens cover a saturated
by the present global climate on wetlands and wetland floras. mineral substrate, other than rock, and dominate the vegetation.
Pfefferkorn (1995) noted the need for a reorientation of a per- They obviously would have differed significantly from extant
ceived north-temperate perspective and search strategy for inter- moss-lichen wetlands in not being associated with any vegeta-
preting ancient mire ecosystems. Likewise, Collinson and Scott tion of taller stature. Pre-Devonian moss-like wetlands also were
(1987) pointed out the importance of understanding differences non-peat-accumulating and therefore would not be termed bogs
in a flora through time when attempting to reconstruct ancient or fens, nor would they be expected to have similar ecology and
mires. Similarly, it is important to understand changes in specific functions to those of extant Sphagnum moss-dominated mires.
types of wetland ecosystems. Extant floras and faunas occupy If wetlands are defined by the presence of hydrophytic vascular
specific niches in different types of wetlands, some of which plants, then, by definition, wetland origins are tied to the origin
entail unique physiological adaptations and ecological interac- of vascular plants in the Middle Silurian.
SILURIAN problematic in its application to Cooksonia-dominated wetlands.

Marshlands generally are considered to be dominated by deeply
The Oldest Vascular Plants in Wetlands rooted herbaceous vegetation (e.g., Keddy, 2000), decimeters to
meters in height (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000).
By many accounts, Cooksonia (Wenlockian) is considered Pre–Late Devonian plants were mostly less than a meter in height
the oldest vascular plant (Edwards, 1980; Edwards and Fanning, and were not deeply rooted (Fig. 1).
1985). Cooksonia is a rhyniophyte, a group of small, simple, Some research has inferred that simple rhyniophytoid
stick-like vascular plants. It is found mostly in autochthonous plants, like Cooksonia, inhabited salt marshes (Jeram et al.,
deposits associated with fluvial sandstones and floodplains. 1990; Shear et al., 1989). Modern salt marshes are a special
Edwards (1980) inferred Cooksonia habitats along large rivers, wetland type inhabited by a low diversity of plants adapted to
which might indicate inland fluvial wetlands according to the salt stress caused by brackish to marine tidal inundation or sea
Cowardin et al. (1979) classification. The term “riparian wet- spray. Late Silurian plants were simple plants lacking morpho-
land,” which describes wetlands and associated upstream areas logical features common in modern salt marsh plants, such as
influenced by the river, also would apply, although there would be deeply buried rhizomes, salt-excluding roots (e.g., pneumato-
few functional similarities to extant riparian settings because of phores), and bark or leaves that might contain salt glands, and
the small stature of these rhyniophytes. Cooksonia only grew to do not appear to have any obvious adaptations to varying soil
a few centimeters, so was moss-like in stature. The term “marsh” salinities. As a consequence, it is likely that early rhyniophytes
(often used in descriptions of these wetlands) is functionally grew under freshwater conditions.
Figure 1. Evolution of wetland types in the Silurian and Devonian. The heights of major floral components are shown as is the inferred depth of
rooting. Heights of plants from various sources. Estimates of root depth from Algeo et al. (1995).
LATE SILURIAN–EARLY DEVONIAN DEVONIAN
Arthropod Terrestrialization in Wetlands The Spread of Wetlands
Arthropods are the oldest terrestrial animals. Putative paleo- Most of the Early to Middle Devonian terrestrial fossil record
sols and terrestrial arthropod trace fossils are inferred for strata is confined to subtropical-to-tropical wetland habitats, with plants
as old as the Ordovician (Retallack and Feakes, 1987; Retal- restricted to monotypic stands in freshwater, near-channel, depos-
lack, 2000; Shear and Selden, 2001), but the oldest undisputed its (Edwards, 1980; Beerbower, 1985; Edwards and Fanning,
terrestrial land animal, Pneumodesmus, is a millipede from 1985; DiMichele and Hook, 1992). Hence, these assemblages
the Middle Silurian of Scotland (Wilson and Anderson, 2004). mostly would be classified as paludal or riverine wetlands. Late
Upper Silurian terrestrial arthropods include trigonotarbids (spi- Silurian rhyniophytes were joined by several new clades in the
der-like arachnids), kampecarids (millipede-like arthropods) Early Devonian, including zosterophylls (Gedinnian) and trim-
and fragments of possible centipedes (Jeram et al. 1990; Rolfe, erophytes (Siegenian) (Kenrick and Crane, 1997; Bateman et al.,
1990). Silurian arthropod terrestrialization was linked closely 1998), all low-stature (centimeters in height) vegetational types
to vascular plant evolution in wetlands (Rolfe, 1980; Jeram et (Fig. 1). Lycopsids also are found in the Early Devonian (Siege-
al., 1990). In fact, the transition from an aqueous to a terres- nian), and may represent an additional new clade if a Silurian age
trial habit may have been aided by low-structured vegetation for Baragwanathia is discounted. Baragwanathia, a primitive
that created humid microclimates near the soil surface (Rolfe, lycopsid from Australia, originally was assigned a Late Silurian
1985). Most Late Silurian and Early Devonian arthropods are (Ludlovian) age (Lang and Cookson, 1935; Garratt et al., 1984),
found associated with freshwater marsh-like vegetation in both but this determination is controversial. Baragwanathia actually
autochthonous and allochthonous deposits, providing the earli- may be of Early Devonian age (Edwards et al., 1979).
est evidence of habitat function in wetlands. The oldest possible All Early Devonian vascular plants were small and homo-
insect is the fragmentary remains of Rhyniognatha, from the sporous, which means that their gametophytes required water-
Lower Devonian (Pragian) Rhynie Chert (Engel and Grimaldi, mediated fertilization (Remy, 1982). Likewise, the small rhizoids
2004). The slightly younger and more complete remains of a of these rhyniophytes, trimerophytes, and zosterophylls indicate
bristletail from the Emsian (Lower Devonian) of Quebec, Can- habitats characterized by nearly continuous moisture (DiMichele
ada, was inferred by Labandeira et al., (1988) to indicate hexa- and Hook, 1992; Hotton et al., 2001)—in other words, moss-like
pod origins in wet, marsh-like habitats. Similar deposits from to at most marsh-like wetlands, but still smaller in height than the
the Emsian of Canada have produced millipedes, arthropleu- flora that typically inhabits extant marshes (Fig. 1).
rids, and terrestrial scorpions (Shear et al., 1996). The Alken-
an-der-Mosel fauna (Emsian), which includes trigonotarbids, Geothermal Wetlands
arthropleurids, and the oldest non-scorpion arachnid (Størmer,
1976), is preserved along with lycopsids and rhyniophytes (wet- By far the most famous early terrestrial biota is from the
land plants) (Jeram et al., 1990; Shear and Selden, 2001). The Rhynie Chert (Siegenian) of Scotland. Chert in this wetland deposit
Middle Devonian (Givettian) Gilboa fauna includes eurypterids preserves the three-dimensional remains of fungi, algae, small non-
and terrestrial arthropods, including arachnids, centipedes, a vascular polysporangiophytes, a lycophyte, small vascular plants,
possible insect, and the oldest spider, and is in association with arachnids (mites, trigonotarbids), an insect, and freshwater crusta-
herbaceous lycopsids and progymnosperms (Shear et al., 1984; ceans (Remy and Remy, 1980; Rolfe, 1980; Trewin, 1996; Rice et
Selden et al., 1991). al., 2002). Rhyniophytes have been interpreted as “swamp” (e.g.,
The spread of kampecarid arthropods (myriapods) is an Knoll, 1985), “marsh” (Trewin and Rice, 1992), and “bog” plants
example of the possible paleoecological significance of wet- (Rice et al., 1995), although the terms have been applied somewhat
lands in arthropod evolution. Kampecarids were millipede-like indiscriminately. Although the term “swamp” is sometimes used
arthropods that were restricted to freshwater aquatic or near- informally to describe any type of wetland, formal use in several
aquatic habitats in which they fed on plant detritus (Almond, classification systems requires arborescent vegetation, which were
1985). In the Silurian, plant detritus would have been restricted lacking at Rhynie. “Marsh-like” rather than “marsh” might be more
in and around moss-like to marsh-like wetlands. Modern milli- appropriate because of the small stature of herbaceous vegetation
pedes prefer moist litter horizons and dead wood as habitats, and preserved. The term “bog” is even more problematic because bogs
they are critical agents for nutrient cycling in tropical wetlands are peat-accumulating wetlands. Although silicified organic lami-
and wetland forests as litter-horizon detritivores. The radiation nae have been called “peat mats” at Rhynie (Knoll, 1985), these are
of kampecarids and true diplopods (millipedes) into the earli- not thick (millimeters thick) and much thicker peats would be more
est wetland communities undoubtedly contributed to increased typical of the modern peat-forming wetlands classified as bogs.
nutrient cycling, which increased soil quality and contributed Recently, the cherts were shown to have been deposited in
to increasingly complex food webs as the terrestrial floral and a fluvio-lacustrine setting within, or on the margin of, a hydro-
faunal radiations progressed. thermal basin (Trewin and Rice, 1992; Trewin, 1994, 1996;
Rice et al., 1995, 2002). In situ plant assemblages accumulated Asteroxylon mackiei (Emsian-Givetian) from the Rhynie Chert
in ambient waters of interfluves and overflow pools between may have grown to heights of 50 cm (Gensel and Andrews, 1984;
hydrothermal ponds and geysers. Hence, at least some part of Gensel, 1992). Pertica quadrifaria, a trimerophyte from the Trout
the Rhynie Chert biota represents inland geothermal wetlands as Valley of Maine (United States), grew to at least a meter in height
defined in the Ramsar classification (Fig. 2). (Kasper and Andrews, 1972; Allen and Gastaldo, this volume) if
The association of freshwater crustaceans with the Rhynie not taller. As such, wetlands comprised of these emergent plants
biome is interesting because crustaceans are one of the most com- formed the earliest marshes (inland shrub-dominated wetlands
mon groups of modern wetland-inhabiting arthropods. The Rhynie sensu Ramsar classification). Middle Devonian wetlands began
crustaceans (Lepidocaris, Castracollis) are branchiopods, similar to exhibit floral partitioning (Allen and Gastaldo, this volume),
to modern tadpole shrimp (Triops) and fairy shrimp (Artemia) possibly in response to salinity, water chemistry, nutrients, or
(Anderson and Trewin, 2003; Fayers and Trewin, 2004). Extant sedimentation and flooding (duration and periodicity of inunda-
branchiopods are common in wet meadows (vernal ponds) where tion). This partitioning undoubtedly involved feedback loops with
they are important parts of detritivore-based food webs. Extant stands of vegetation also influencing flooding and sedimentation
wet meadows are ephemeral wetlands dominated by herbaceous as seen in modern freshwater marshes and wet meadows. In the
grasses and shrubs (Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). riparian and lake-margin settings in which much of the Middle
Crustaceans can thrive in ephemeral wetlands because of the lack Devonian flora is found, wet meadows were likely common, as
of fish, which also seems to have been the case in the Rhynie eco- increasing stature, rooting, and floral partitioning allowed for
system. Today, wet meadows (considered by some as a subset of some plants to adapt to seasonal inundation or exposure.
marshes) are dominated by angiosperms (grasses and sedges). In Sphenopsid-like plants are another important shrubby clade
the middle Paleozoic, rhyniophytes may have occupied similar that emerged in the Late Devonian. Included among these plants
niches, although rhyniophytes were likely less drought resistant are the Iridopterids (Stein et al., 1984). Calamitalean sphenop-
than the flora of wet meadows today, and the relationship between sids of the Carboniferous appear to have been adept particularly
their life history pattern and seasonal drought is not understood. at colonizing disturbed environments, such as riparian wetlands
susceptible to flooding and sedimentation (Scott, 1978; DiMi-
The Oldest Marshes chele and Phillips, 1985; Gastaldo, 1987; Pfefferkorn et al.,
2001). In modern coastal, lacustrine, and riverine marsh settings,
By the Middle Devonian (Eifelian), several plant groups some emergent, reed-like plants are simplified (reduced) as an
had evolved shrub or bush morphology (Fig. 1). The lycophyte adaptation for living in these disturbance-prone areas. Reed-like
Figure 2. Illustration of the Rhynie geothermal wetlands. Arthropods include the crustaceans (A) Lepidocaris and (B) Castracollis, (C) a euthy-
carcinoid, (D) the partial remains of centipede, (E) the trigonotarbid Palaeocharinus; and (F) the partial remains of a springtail. Flora include
(G) Aglaophyton, (H) Rhynia, (I) Horneophyton, and (J) Asteroxylon. All floral members drawn to same scale. Illustrations based on data and
reconstructions from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (www.abdn.ac.uk/rhynie/).
morphologies limit damage from storms and flooding through 1998), providing increased nutrients to surrounding wetland,
reduction of surface area, and clonal growth allows reestablish- fluvial, and upland ecosystems. The result of litterfall detritus in
ment of aerial shoots if the emergent parts of the plants should extant wetlands is the formation of a complex detritus-based food
be broken (Keddy, 2000) or buried (Gastaldo, 1992). Sphenopsid web that supports a great diversity of aquatic invertebrates, fish,
reed-like morphologies in disturbance-prone Carboniferous envi- and amphibians, often with greater biodiversity than in adjacent
ronments created a framework similar to that presently created by uplands because of the “edge effects” of ecotones (Bacon, 1997;
reeds and rushes. Thick stands of reeds in modern marshes serve Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). Such a food web was
important functions in terms of sedimentation control, water fil- likely in place by the Middle Devonian.
tering, flood control, and habitat, all of which are likely to have The development of deep, extensive roots in Frasnian
originated in Devonian marshes. progymnosperms resulted in increased substrate stabilization
(Figs. 1, 3) and a change in the rate at which paleosols formed
The Oldest Swamps and sediment was discharged (Algeo and Scheckler, 1998; Algeo
et al., 2001). Devonian substrate stabilization also decreased sedi-
During the Middle to Late Devonian, lycopsids and progym- ment fluxes and reduced catastrophic flooding in wetland habitats
nosperms attained tree-like stature, which led to the evolution of (Schumm, 1968; Beerbower et al., 1992). This latter consequence
the first true forested wetlands, by definition, swamps (Fig. 1).
Lycopsids were the first land plants to develop shallow substrate-
penetrating roots (Remy and Remy, 1980), which advanced the
process of soil development. Other clades evolved root systems
later in the Devonian (Driese and Mora, 2001), altering pedogenic
processes. Root systems were essential to the development of an
arborescent growth habit because of the centralized growth form
of most trees. Arborescence continued the pattern of increasing
vegetational zonation, with the development of tiered canopies,
including both trees and understory shrubs (Scott, 1980). Zona-
tion contributed directly to the differentiation of swamps and
marshes and the development of new niche space (Scheckler,
1986a; Cressler, this volume), and thereby biodiversity.
What may be the oldest swamps (forested wetlands) were
reported by Driese et al. (1997) from the Middle Devonian of
New York. Large stumps and shallow-penetrating roots, attrib-
utable to cf. Eospermatopteris, are preserved in a gray-green,
gleyed, pyritic mudstone, interpreted as a waterlogged paleosol.
Bartholomew and Brett (2003) have redescribed similar in situ
stumps of Eospermatopteris (possibly a cladoxylalean) from the
famous Gilboa locality in New York, from which the genus was
described originally (Goldring, 1924). Although the habit of this
plant is uncertain, stumps of approximately one meter in diam-
eter have been reported, suggesting large trees adapted to wetland
(swamp) conditions.
The progymnosperm Archaeopteris sp. is considered the
oldest typically woody, tall tree (Figs. 1, 3), growing to heights of
18 m and occupying poorly drained flood plains and coastal areas
(Beck, 1962, 1964; Retallack, 1985; Scheckler, 1986; Meyer-Ber-
thaud et al., 1999). As such, they formed true gallery forests in
floodplain environments constituting riverine or paludal forested
wetlands, riparian forest-wetlands, or swamps (when defined as
forested wetlands on mineral substrates). Arborescent progym-
nosperms had flattened branch systems and leaves, providing
for a canopy and the potential for a shaded understory, which, in
the Late Devonian, was dominated by the scrambling fern-like
plant Rhacophyton (Fig. 3). In combination, this plant associa- Figure 3. Devonian lacustrine wetland dominated by the pre-fern Rha-
tion would have increased litter input to the swamp floor (DiMi- cophyton and the progymnosperm Archaeopteris, whose roots stabi-
chele and Hook, 1992; Algeo et al., 1995; Algeo and Scheckler, lize the banks of the oxbow lake.
is an important function of modern wetlands, where flooding is increased nutrient flux and bottom water anoxia and organic car-
prevented through the “breaking” action supplied by thick stands bon fluxes, these perturbations could have led to global cooling,
of plants against floodwater velocity, as well as through floodwa- Devonian glaciation, as well as the end-Devonian mass extinc-
ter storage (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000). It also tion (Berner, 1993, 1997; Algeo et al., 1995; Algeo and Scheck-
could lead to reduced runoff and increased precipitation, lead- ler, 1998).
ing to significant changes in the global hydrological cycle (Algeo
and Scheckler, 1998; Algeo et al., 2001). The Oldest Mires
Roots are central in the process of denitrification, which is
important in global nitrogen cycling (e.g., Keddy, 2000). This Late Devonian coals record the evolution of the first peat-
critical function presumably originated in mid-Devonian marshes accumulating wetlands, indicating when plants had evolved
but increased with the evolution and spread of true swamps, and the production and shedding of prolific amounts of biomass,
the development of upland forests leading to a dramatic increase which allowed peat to accumulate under specific chemical con-
in vegetative primary productivity. These expansions across the ditions. There is a distinction made between modern peat and
landscape would have increased carbon consumption and atmo- non-peat-forming wetlands in most discussions (Mitsch and
spheric carbon dioxide (pCO2) drawdown. In combination with Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000), and many authors differentiate
between swamps and mires (bogs, fens; e.g., Gore, 1983). Peats
are composed of at least 50% organic (mostly plant) material
and accumulate where organic production outpaces decomposi-
tion, generally in wet, low-oxygen substrates. Often, the pres-
ence of an impervious aquiclude underlying the peat mire allows
for the stilting of the water table, promoting litter accumulation
(Gastaldo and Staub, 1999). Peat substrates present plants with
considerably different challenges than mineral substrates. Most
importantly, many peats are relatively nutrient deficient because
organic matter chelates mineral nutrients. Stability for rooting
also differs from mineral substrates. Finally, pore waters in peat,
in some cases, have a lower pH than what most plants experience
on other types of substrates (DiMichele et al., 1987; Cross and
Phillips, 1990; Gastaldo and Staub, 1999). Peat accumulation in
the Devonian resulted in new types of wetlands and new wetland
functions associated with mires.
Some of the earliest coals are interpreted as sapropelic
“boghead” coals, which form from the accumulation of algae in
brackish to freshwater restricted environments (Thiessen, 1925;
Sanders, 1968), although most result from the accumulation of
terrestrial detritus. Several Late Devonian (Frasnian) coals of
eastern North America are dominated by the herbaceous scram-
bling fern Rhacophyton (Scheckler, 1986a; Cross and Phillips,
1990). These sites would be classified as shrub-dominated peat
wetlands or “fens” (Fig. 1; Gore, 1983; Keddy, 2000; Mitsch and
Gosselink, 2000). Because Rhacophyton grew in both mineral
and peat substrates, it likely was preadapted to oligotrophic con-
ditions, which allowed this marsh plant to become one of the ini-
tial mire creators/occupiers.
Forested mires also appear in the Late Devonian and are
composed of lycopsids (Figs. 1, 4). Late Devonian coals of China
are dominated by the arborescent lycopsids Lepidodendrop-
sis, Lepidosigillaria, and Cyclostigma (Xingxue and Xiuyhan,
1996). Arborescent lycopsids originated in non-peat-accumulat-
ing Devonian swamps and later expanded their range into peat-
lands, where they became dominant. It has been inferred that as
Figure 4. Devonian mires were dominated by the pre-fern Rhacophy- peatlands expanded, these ecosystems became refugia for relict
ton, but arborescent lycopods with stigmarian roots became increas- plants (like the lycopsids), as increasing morphological innova-
ingly common. tion allowed other clades to expand outside of wetland habitats
(Knoll, 1985; DiMichele et al., 1987). The stigmarian root sys- son, 1990). By the Late Devonian, tiering and canopy zonation
tems of lycopods (Fig. 4) permitted growth in wet, oxygen-poor, in marshes, swamps, fens, and forest mires was well established,
soft-sediment substrates (Rothwell, 1984; DiMichele and Phil- and created the types of food and cover in which tetrapods could
lips, 1985; Phillips et al., 1985) and allowed lycopods to become thrive, adding another layer to both freshwater aquatic and ter-
the dominant vegetation of the Carboniferous peatlands. restrial food webs.
Late Devonian forested mires may represent the earliest
bogs, depending on the use of the term. Bogs generally are differ- MISSISSIPPIAN
entiated from fens by the accumulation of thicker peat composed
of vegetation that is at least partly arborescent. In this respect, Tetrapod and Wetland Diversification
Late Devonian forest mires could be termed bogs. Devonian
forest mires, however, were not ombrotrophic or dominated by Tetrapods continued to evolve and diversify into the Car-
mosses, characteristics implied in some uses of “bog” (Mitsch boniferous as exemplified by one of the most famous Lower
and Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000). In terms of their ecologi- Carboniferous sites in East Kirkton, England. The fossil-bear-
cal functions, these Devonian fens and forest mires mark the ing limestone preserves a wide variety of vertebrates, including
initiation of a new carbon sink, contributing to changes in the chondrichthyan and acanthodian fish, lungfish, temnospondyls,
global carbon cycle and remaining important to this day. Also, anthracosaurs, and a reptiliomorph (reptile-like) animal (Milner
the high water-storage capacity of peats means that mires can and Sequeira, 1994). At one time, the reptiliomorph nicknamed
significantly influence local and regional hydrology (Mitsch and “Lizzie” was interpreted as the oldest amniote (reptile; Smithson,
Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000), which likely began in the Devo- 1989). More recent studies, however, have suggested that it was
nian but would have greater impact with the spread of mires in only a close relative of amniotes (Smithson et al., 1994), and pos-
the Carboniferous. sibly even a stem-tetrapod or an early amphibian, rather than a
true amniote (Laurin and Reisz, 1999).
Tetrapod Evolution and Wetlands The East Kirkton tetrapod assemblage occurs in an alkaline,
freshwater lake rimmed with marshes formed from reed-like
Tetrapods made landfall in the Late Devonian (Milner et al., calamites and a pteridosperm with Sphenopteris foliage (Milner
1986; Clack, 2002) from lungfish and lobe-finned fish ancestors. et al., 1986). Volcanogenic rocks preserve several different plant
In fact, low-oxygen conditions caused by decaying plant mat- assemblages within hydrothermal hot-spring deposits (Rolfe
ter in freshwater wetlands and wetland-fringing lakes may have et al., 1990; Brown et al., 1994; Scott and Rex, 1987; Galtier
spurred the evolution of tetrapod lungs (Randall et al., 1981; Car- and Scott, 1994; Scott et al., 1994). The vertical juxtaposition
roll, 1988; Clack, 2002). Extant lungfish, such as the Australian of these assemblages indicates that East Kirkton initially was a
Neoceratodos forsteri and African Protopterus, inhabit freshwa-
ter rivers, ponds, and marshes. They survive in ephemeral wet-
lands by burrowing into and estivating within wet substrates, sur-
viving for many months until seasonal rains reflood their habitat
(Speight and Blackith, 1983).
Acanthostega is one of the earliest aquatic tetrapods. Its mul-
tidigit appendages were preadapted for use on land, having first
evolved in water (Gould, 1991; Clack, 1997; Clack and Coates
1995; Coates and Clack 1995). In the fluvial environments in
which Acanthostega is preserved, it has been hypothesized that
digitation was useful in strong currents for grasping onto rocks
and water plants (Clack, 1997). Terrestrial mobility may have
originated as a preadaptation in these earliest tetrapods that
developed in association with maneuvering through vegetation
in fluvial (riparian) wetlands dominated by dense stands of Rha-
cophyton in Late Devonian riverine marshes (Fig. 5).
Amphibians are common in many modern riverine/riparian
wetlands (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000) and many extant species
require this habitat for part of their life cycle. Modern amphib-
ian distribution is influenced by predation and the stability, light
intensity, and temperature of their habitats (Skelly et al., 1999,
2002). Broad wetlands, with distinct microhabitats of overstory, Figure 5. Acanthostega maneuvers through stands of the pre-fern Rha-
midstory, and shrub, provide different types of food and cover cophyton and roots of the arborescent progymnosperm Archaeopteris
where amphibians generally are abundant (Rudolph and Dick- in a flooded Devonian riparian marsh.
lake surrounded by drier, pteridosperm-dominated woodlands; Belarus, Russia, and China (Wagner et al., 1983; Scotese, 2001;
these subsequently were altered to wetter substrates in which Rygel et al., this volume). These are dominated by arborescent
lycopod-dominated swamps are preserved (Scott et al., 1994). lycopsids that range throughout the late Early Carboniferous up
Many Carboniferous tetrapod assemblages accumulated in simi- to near the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary, where they
lar open-water bodies fringed by marshes or forest swamps, and first are joined by typical Pennsylvanian lycopsid taxa. The lyco-
in swamp-filled pools (oxbows, billabongs) (Milner et al., 1986; psids Lepidophloios and Paralycopodites remain a component of
Hook and Baird, 1986; Garcia et al., this volume). these mires into the Pennsylvanian, while new species of the lepi-
Tuffs containing fusain at East Kirkton may indicate that dodendrid complex replace typical Early Carboniferous forms.
volcanic activity ignited wildfires (Brown et al., 1994), which in A few floristic elements of the Early Mississippian (Visean) per-
turn may have driven the vertebrates from this landscape into the sist into the Namurian mires in the Silesian basin, mostly within
lakes where they perished (Scott et al., 1994). Fires are impor- the sphenopsids (Archaeocalamites and Mesocalamites) and
tant elements in the ecology of most modern wetlands and influ- fern/pteridosperms (Purkynová, 1977; Havlena, 1961). Although
ence floral content and community succession in extant wetlands much of the global Mississippian is recorded in carbonate ramp
(Keddy, 2000). This probably has been the case since the Late deposits, it is these lycopsid-dominant swamps and mires that
Devonian (Scott, 1989). set the stage for the extensive accumulation of peatlands in the
Pennsylvanian.
Possible Mangal Wetland Origins
PENNSYLVANIAN
The Mississippian provides the first evidence for the expan-
sion of any clade into nearshore and marginal marine sites, those The Heyday of Tropical Mires
under possible saline influence. Inasmuch as the term “mangrove”
often is applied to woody taxa, the term mangal—any salt-tol- Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) coals are known from
erant plant—would be applied to these assemblages. Gastaldo basins in the eastern and central United States, eastern Canada,
(1986) interpreted the stigmarian-rooted lycopsids reported by England, eastern and western Europe as well as parts of China
Pfefferkorn (1972) in the Battleship Wash Formation, Arizona, and East Asia (Walker, 2000; Scotese, 2001; Thomas, 2002).
as representing the first mangal taxon. Gastaldo et al. (this vol- These areas straddled the Pennsylvanian equator (Fig. 6), with
ume) also demonstrate that some Mississippian back-barrier some coals representing the most widespread tropical mire sys-
marshes were inhabited by herbaceous, cormose lycopsids. Most tems in earth history (Greb et al., 2003).
arborescent lycopsids are interpreted to have been intolerant of Much is known about the ecology of Pennsylvanian wetland
salt water (DiMichele and Phillips, 1985), although smaller, cor- plants and plant communities, a consequence, in part, of expo-
mose forms, such as Chaloneria, have been interpreted as living sures made possible by the mining of economically important
in coastal marsh-like habitats (DiMichele et al., 1979), as well coals. The ecologies of the dominant plant groups have been
as fresh-water marshes and peat-forest swamps (Pigg, 1992). It reviewed by DiMichele and Phillips (1994), but recent data from
is not a simple proposition to identify morphological features the Early Pennsylvanian (Langsettian) may indicate that the par-
that would support a brackish-habitat interpretation for Paleo- titioning of ecospace within mires occurred through the Penn-
zoic plants because not all of these adaptations (for example stilt sylvanian (Gastaldo et al., 2004). In brief, giant lycopsid trees
roots) are solely an adaptation to saline tolerance. Transgression were restricted mostly to wet, periodically flooded substrates.
(onlap) could result in burial of freshwater, near-coast taxa in These trees dominated Early and Middle Pennsylvanian forest
marine sediments, confounding interpretations of mangal habit mires. Lycopsids were spore producers, although some had seed-
based on sedimentological evidence. In addition, many extant like “aquacarps,” adapted for aquatic fertilization and dispersal
freshwater wetland plants and mangals live on freshwater lenses in forested wetlands (Phillips and DiMichele, 1992). They were
in the soil, adjacent to brackish or marine waters. Few plants supported by bark, rather than wood, and had highly specialized
can tolerate the precipitation of salts in marine-water influenced rooting systems (Stigmaria) that facilitated growth in low-oxy-
soils. Therefore, interpretation of mangal habit is, in part, a mat- gen, soft substrates. There was a variety of lycopsid tree genera
ter of recognizing that the plants did not live directly within fully with specializations to different levels of disturbance and sub-
marine salinities but could tolerate the incursion of salt water, or strate exposure (Fig. 7A–7E).
recognizing physiological features that allow an interpretation of Other spore-producing groups coexisted with the lycopsids
salinity tolerance. in these mires. Marattialean tree ferns of the genus Psaronius
were cheaply constructed plants (Baker and DiMichele, 1997);
Spreading Mires and Lowland Swamps tree habit was made possible by a thick mantle of adventitious
roots (Figs. 7A, 7C, 7F). The calamiteans were another group,
Within the coastal plains and continental interiors, extensive closely related to modern scouring rushes and horsetails of the
swamps and thick peat mires first occur in the Late Mississippian genus Equisetum. Extant Equisetum is a small, widespread, non-
throughout Eurasia including Canada, western Europe, Ukraine, woody plant that grows in moist places and poor soil. Calamite-
ans appear to have inhabited the same environments (Fig. 7A),

although some calamiteans grew to heights in excess of 5 m and,
hence, would have served functions more similar to small trees
than shrubs (Fig. 7D). The calamiteans were the only major Late
Carboniferous tree group to exhibit clonal growth. Aerial stems
developed from subterranean rhizomes in most species, a growth
form that permitted them to exploit habitats with high rates of
sediment aggradation (Fig. 7F) in which the stems could be bur-
ied repeatedly by flood-borne siliciclastics and continue to regen-
erate (Gastaldo, 1992).
Two seed-producing tree groups also were common in peat-
substrate mires, the cordaites (Fig. 7F) and the medullosan pteri-
Figure 6. Upper Carboniferous paleogeography and climates showing
dosperms (Figs. 7C, E). Cordaites were woody trees and shrubs locations of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires (modified
closely related to extant conifers. In the middle Westphalian, from Scotese, 2001). AU = Australia, CH = China, EU = Europe, NA
cordaitean gymnosperms became abundant in some parts of = North America, SA = South America, SI = Siberia.
mire landscapes (Fig. 7F), apparently reflecting areas with peri-
odic extended substrate exposure or disturbance (Phillips et al.,
1985). Cordaites were also common components of late Paleo-
zoic Angaran (Asian) wetlands (Oshurkova, 1996). Some forms 1984; Scott, 1978; Collinson and Scott, 1987; Gastaldo, 1987).
have been reconstructed as mangroves (Cridland 1964; Raymond In the late Middle Pennsylvanian, marattialean tree ferns began
and Phillips, 1983), although evidence of stilt-like roots is lack- to increase in abundance in all parts of the wetland landscapes,
ing in preserved Cordaites tree trunks (Johnson, 1999). It also although the increase in fern abundance can be detected in clastic
has been suggested that they could tolerate brackish conditions substrate habitats (marshes and swamps) before it appears in mire
(Wartmann, 1969). There is, however, substantial reason to doubt habitats (Pfefferkorn and Thomson, 1982). A major extinction at
a mangrove interpretation, given that the plants appear to prefer the end of the Middle Pennsylvanian (Westphalian) resulted in
rotted peat, possibly subject to exposure, and that they occur in a a significant reorganization of wetland ecology (Phillips et al.,
complex flora associated with an array of other plants that do not 1974; DiMichele and Phillips, 1996b). Following the extinction,
appear to be specifically adapted to salt-water tolerance (Phillips Euramerican Late Pennsylvanian (Stephanian) mire and riparian
et al., 1985; Raymond et al., 2001). swamps became more similar in overall patterns of dominance
Medullosan pteridosperms were small trees largely confined and diversity. Psaronius tree ferns were dominant, medullosan
to nutrient-enriched substrates. They produced large fronds on pteridosperms were subdominant, and Sigillaria (Fig. 7D), a tree
which were borne some of the largest seeds known among Car- lycopsid that may have preferred periodic substrate dryness, was
boniferous tropical plants (Gastaldo and Matten, 1978). Medul- locally common.
losans were free standing and formed thickets or tangles of plants
that leaned on each other for support (Wnuk and Pfefferkorn, The Development of Wetland Successions
1984). In addition to these tree forms, representatives within the
pteridosperms, ferns, sphenopsids, and lycopsids also displayed Many modern peatlands exhibit a temporal succession of wet-
ground cover and liana (vine) growth strategies (Fig. 7B–7D, 7F). land types in response to changing hydrology and nutrients (Gore,
A liana growth strategy is important in modern tropical wetlands 1983; Moore, 1989; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000).
because it allows plants to compete for light amongst tall trees. The earliest definitive successions in ancient wetlands are from the
These forms were systematically diverse and occasionally abun- Pennsylvanian. Studies of English Pennsylvanian coals by Smith
dant in the community (Hamer and Rothwell, 1988; DiMichele (1957, 1962) noted that many exhibit vertical changes in spore
and Phillips, 1996a; DiMichele and Phillips, 2002). content, which were inferred to represent changes or successions
in plant (and wetland) types. Coals also exhibit vertical changes
Non-Peat-Forming Swamps in ash yield, sulfur content, palynology, and petrography, which
result from temporal succession of different wetland types (Cecil
Non-peat-forming swamps, sometimes referred to as “clas- et al., 1985; Esterle and Ferm, 1986; Eble and Grady, 1990; Greb
tic swamps” (e.g., Gastaldo, 1987; Mapes and Gastaldo, 1986; et al., 1999a, 2002). Successional patterns also have been inferred
Gastaldo et al., 1995) also were widespread in Pennsylvanian from coal balls (Raymond, 1988; Pryor, 1993; Greb et al., 1999b).
coal basins. These habitats supported a vegetation much like that Many Euramerican coals began in topographic lows as
of forest mires, although there were many species-level differ- marshes or swamps (Figs. 7A) and then became mires as condi-
ences and the environments were dominated by different plants. tions allowed for the uninterrupted accumulation of biomass. In
Swamp habitats often were enriched in lycopsids but included some cases, successions occurred between different mire types.
pteridosperms as major components (Wnuk and Pfefferkorn, Thin peats, rooted seat earths (poorly developed soils—e.g., incep-
Figure 7. Pennsylvanian wetlands were diverse and included (A) pioneering topogenous riverine and paludal mires and swamps, (B) flooded
swamps and topogenous forest mires, (C) paludal swamps, (D) riverine/riparian-margin marshes and swamps, and (E) ombrogenous mires.
Disturbance-prone mires (F) along wetland margins were dominated by disturbance-tolerant flora. Swamps and forest mires were dominated
by lycopods including Paralycopodites (Lp), Lepidophloios (Lls), Lepidodendron (Lln), Sigillaria (Ls), and Omphalophloios (Lo). Juvenile
Lepidodendron (Llj). Lycopod reconstructions based on DiMichele and Phillips (1985, 1994). Other arborescent flora included tree ferns (Tf),
sphenopsids such as Calamites (Ca, which ranged from herbaceous to arborescent), and the gymnospermous tree Cordaites (Co). Sphenopsids
also occurred as vines (lianas). Ground cover was dominated by ferns and sphenopsids.
tisols or entisols), and in situ tree stumps within mineral substrates

form in a wide variety of swamp and marsh settings (e.g., Tei-
chmüller, 1990); thick peats can accumulate in fens and forested
mires. Extant planar peatlands, also called topogenous mires or
low-lying moors, generally occur at or just below the ground-water
table and tend to fill in the topography (Gore, 1983; Moore, 1989).
Ombrogenous mires, or raised mires in which peat doming may
occur, build up above the topography in everwet climates (Gore,
1983; Clymo, 1987; Moore, 1989). Successions from topogenous
to ombrogenous mires have been inferred for numerous Eurameri-
can Pennsylvanian coals on the basis of palynological analyses
(Cecil et al., 1985; Esterle and Ferm, 1986; Eble and Grady, 1990;
Greb et al., 1999a, 1999b). Because modern ombrogenous mires
build up above surrounding river levels, they are low-nutrient habi-
tats without standing water cover and are dominated by stunted
vegetation in the domed areas (Gore, 1983; Moore, 1989). In the Figure 8. Giant arthropods in Pennsylvanian wetlands included the
Pennsylvanian, similar conditions are inferred for ombrogenous millipede Arthropleura and giant mayflies (lower right) here shown in
mires, which appear to have been dominated by stunted lycop- a lycopod swamp.
sids (Omphalophloios) and ferns (Fig. 7E; Esterle and Ferm, 1986;
Eble and Grady, 1990; Greb et al., 1999a, 1999b).
Giant Arthropods in Wetlands depicted flying insect in Carboniferous illustrations is Meganeura,

a dragonfly-like hexapod, which had a wingspan of more than
The record of Carboniferous arthropods is very good, partly 60 cm. The precursors of extant dragonflies, the Protodonata, also
because of the many Carboniferous concretion locations that evolved in the Carboniferous, and some had wingspans of more
are fossiliferous, including the famous Mazon Creek area of the than 60 cm (Carpenter, 1960). Extant dragonflies are common
Illinois Basin and Montceau-les-Mines, France (Darrah, 1969; predators of wetlands. Because most dragonflies have aquatic
Gastaldo, 1977; Nitecki, 1979; Baird et al., 1986). Much of the pri- nymphs, they require wet habitats for part of their life cycle. In
mary plant productivity in Late Carboniferous wetlands continued fact, the evolution of metamorphosis in insects appears to have
to reach animal food webs through arthropod detritivores, although occurred in wetland or wetland-fringing ecosystems (Kukalova-
a relatively complete trophic web of detritivores, herbivores, and Peck, 1983; Truman and Riddiford, 1999).
carnivores had developed (DiMichele and Hook, 1992; Labandeira Insect flight also may have contributed to the rise of insect
and Eble, 2006). Arthropleura was a giant millipede-like arthro- herbivory, as flying insects could exploit new food resources
pod (Fig. 8) that consumed the inside of rotting lycopod trunks on (DiMichele and Hook, 1992). Some Carboniferous insects (e.g.,
swamp and forest-mire floors (Rolfe, 1980; Hahn et al., 1986; Scott megasecopterans and paleodictyopterans) developed mouth parts
et al., 1992). At 1.8 m in length, Arthropleura is the largest terres- for sucking and piercing. Evidence for this strategy is found
trial arthropod of all time (Rolfe, 1985). Their large size suggests in permineralized swamp-and-mire plants (Scott et al., 1992;
that arthropleurids filled a niche that had yet to be shared with tet- Labandeira and Phillips, 1996; Labandeira and Eble, 2006). In
rapods (DiMichele and Hook, 1992), or that tetrapods were not yet fact, most major insect herbivore functional feeding groups on
large enough to pose a threat. Millipedes are still important wetland land were established by the late Paleozoic and are preserved in
detritivores but are much smaller than Arthropleura. Cockroaches wetland and wetland-fringing estuarine and lacustrine sediments
are another common extant detritivore and were particularly abun- (Labandeira and Eble, 2006). Insect herbivory brought the wet-
dant in Carboniferous wetlands (Durden, 1969; Scott et al., 1992; land food web closer to modern trophic systems.
Easterday, 2003), reaching 8 cm in length.
In addition to their importance as litter-dwelling wetland Amniote Evolution and Wetlands
detritivores, some Carboniferous arthropods also evolved flight
(Kukalova-Peck, 1978, 1983: Scott et al., 1992; Labandeira and The oldest undisputed amniote, the “protorothyridid” Hylo-
Eble, 2006). One explanation for the origin of flight is that wings nomus from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Joggins, Nova Sco-
evolved from gills in aquatic stages, and flight evolved through tia (Dawson, 1854; Carroll, 1964; DiMichele and Hook, 1992;
surface-skimming, a process used by extant, wetland-inhabiting Calder, et al., 1997; Calder et al., this volume), appears to be a
stone flies (Plecoptera) and subadult mayflies (Ephemeroptera; very early member of the lineage that led to diapsids. Although
Marden and Kramer, 1994). Giant mayflies with wingspans of reptiles do not require aqueous conditions for breeding, as do
more than 40 cm are known from Late Carboniferous wetland amphibians, many do require wetlands for food and cover (Fig. 9;
facies (Fig. 8; Kukalova-Peck, 1983). The most commonly Clark, 1979). At present, reptile abundance is influenced by the
availability of horizontal and vertical habitat (Jones, 1986), as and Xiuyhan, 1996), are geographically and floristically separate
may have been the case in the Carboniferous. In the layered from their Carboniferous precursors. Pennsylvanian coals repre-
canopies of Pennsylvanian peatlands and forest swamps, there sent mostly tropical to subtropical mires that were widespread in
was abundant habitat availability for food and cover. At Joggins, Euramerican basins. By the Early Permian, North American coals
reptiles were found within fossil hollowed lycopsid tree stumps; were restricted to the northern Appalachian Basin, and these mires
Dawson (1854) originally thought that the animals had fallen into represented a holdover of Pennsylvanian floras into the Permian.
the stumps and been trapped. More recent investigations inter- Tropical coals became restricted to several Asian plates (Scotese,
preted the stumps as possible dens in which the reptiles died dur- 2001). The most widespread peatlands flourished in the cool-
ing wildfires (Calder et al., 1997; Falcon-Lang, 1999). This inter- temperate climates of the southern Gondwana supercontinent
pretation is plausible, given that modern wetlands are susceptible (Fig. 10). These included the first evidence of peats accumulat-
to seasonal wildfires, especially crown fires (Scott, 2001). ing under permafrost conditions, similar to modern palsa mires
(Krull, 1999). Some of these high-latitude Gondwana mires were
PERMIAN the first extensive, nontropical mires in earth history and data sug-
gest that there was latitudinal plant zonation (toward both poles),
High-Latitude Peatlands in Gondwana analogous to the modern latitudinal gradients in Northern Hemi-
sphere wetlands (Retallack, 1980; Archangelski, 1986; Cuneo,
Although Permian coals are sometimes considered part of the 1996; Xingxue and Xiuyhan, 1996).
first great coal-forming period (Permo-Carboniferous), most, with The majority of coal resources in present-day Australia,
the exception of some coals from the Permian of China (Xingxue India, South Africa, and Antarctica are of Permo-Triassic age
(Archangelsky, 1986; Walker, 2000; Thomas, 2002). The floral
composition of Gondwana coals is distinctly different from the
Carboniferous coals of the Northern Hemisphere. Whereas Car-
boniferous mires were dominated by lycopods and tree ferns,
Permian Gondwana mires were dominated by gymnosperms
(Archangelski, 1986; Falcon, 1989; Cross and Phillips, 1990;
Shearer et al., 1995). In the Early Permian, Gangamopteris was
dominant. By the Middle Permian, Glossopteris was dominant.
Many species are interpreted to have had both herbaceous and
arborescent growth strategies (Falcon, 1989; Taylor and Taylor,
1990; White, 1990; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993; Shearer et al.,
1995). Arborescent Glossopteris taxa were tall, with Dadoxylon-
Araucarioxylon-type gymnospermous wood and Vertebraria-
type roots (Fig. 11, Gould and Delevoryas, 1977; Stewart and
Rothwell, 1993). The arrangement of secondary xylem and the
presence of large air chambers in the roots indicate that these trees
were adapted to standing water or waterlogged soils in swamp
and forest mire settings (Gould, 1975; Retallack and Dilcher,
1981; White, 1990). The similarities between Glossopteris taxa
on different Southern Hemisphere continents, and the recognition
that Glossopteris-rich, coal-bearing strata accumulated under dif-
ferent climatic conditions from those of today, were some of the
original data used to support the theory of continental drift.
Glossopteris mires also were composed of abundant horse-
tails, ferns, herbaceous lycopsids, and bryophytes (Neuburg,
1958; Archangelski, 1986; White, 1990) in a wide array of wet-
land types, including algal ponds, reed fens dominated by the
sphenopsid Phyllotheca, wet forest mires, and dry swamp forests
(Diessel, 1982). The association of bryophytes with high-latitude
mires continues to this day in the world’s most widespread peat-
lands, the Sphagnum-dominated peats of West Siberia (Botch
and Masing, 1983) and the Hudson Bay Lowlands (Zoltai and
Figure 9. Hylonomus, one of the first reptiles, takes shelter in a hol- Pollett, 1983). Another wetland association that began in the
low lycopod trunk during a Pennsylvanian swamp fire in what is now Permian was that with large semiaquatic vertebrates. Today alli-
Nova Scotia. gators, crocodiles, and gavials play a similar ecological role. In
Figure 10. Permian paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

tions of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires (modified
from Scotese, 2001). AF = Africa, AN = Antarctica, AU = Australia,
CH = China, CI = Cimmeria, IN = India, SI = Siberia
the Permian, (and Late Carboniferous) large, semi-aquatic laby-

rinthodont temnospondyls were found in these roles. The 1.8-m
long Eryops is one of the most common and widespread early
Permian labyrinthodonts (Carroll, 1988). Later in the Permian,
the rhinesuchids evolved from the eryptoid labyrinthodonts.
Rhinesuchids had elongated skulls with eyes on top of their skull
similar to extant crocodilians (Fig. 11).
Climatic Changes and Shrinking Wetlands
At the same time that the northern and southern continents

were amalgamating to Pangaea, the late Paleozoic ice age was
ending, with the last vestiges of Southern Hemisphere ice disap- Figure 11. During the Permian, forest mires spread across Gondwa-
pearing in the earliest Permian (Frakes et al., 1992). The termina- naland with gymnosperms replacing lycopods as the dominate wet-
tion of ice-age climates, and the sea-level periodicity associated land trees. The mire is dominated by Glossopteris trees and a ground
with them, led to an overall climatic warming, which resulted in cover of ferns and horsetails. Rhinesuchus (in the water) watches a
dicynodont on shore. Glossopteris tree reconstruction after Gould and
drying and a dramatic decrease in the scale and extent of wet- Delevoryas (1977).
lands when compared with the Carboniferous. Under these new
conditions, some of the previously dominant spore-producing
plants were restricted to narrow riparian corridors and lakeside
settings (DiMichele and Chaney, this volume). The exception
to this pattern occurs on the Chinese microcontinents, which pteridosperm Glossopteris (Fig. 11), whereas coeval peats in
remained climatically wet owing to their proximity to oceanic Siberia are composed of biomass from ruflorian and voynovsky-
moisture sources. This region maintained wetland floras similar alean cordaites (e.g., Meyen, 1982; Taylor and Taylor, 1990).
to those of the Middle Pennsylvanian (lycopsids, cordaites, tree Ziegler (1990) discusses latitudinal zonation of Permian biomes.
ferns); such floras persisted into the Late Permian (Xingxue and Regional Permian drying resulted in the diversification of seed
Xiuyhan, 1996; Rees et al., 2002). plants, with the evolution and diversification of ginkgophytes,
Changing climates and flora resulted in distinct global floris- cycads, peltasperms, and filicalean ferns.
tic zones (Ziegler, 1990; DiMichele and Hook, 1992; Rees et al., Just as the loss of wetland habitats perturb modern ecosys-
2002). Today, latitudinal climate distribution results in zonation tems, the loss of Permian wetlands had profound influences on
of different types of wetlands (e.g., extensive Sphagnum bogs terrestrial ecosystems at the close of the Paleozoic. In the Karoo
at high latitudes, marshes in the temperate zone, and mangrove Basin of South Africa, where the most complete terrestrial record
swamps in the Neotropics). Middle to Late Permian coals of the occurs across the P-Tr boundary, there is a basinward shift from
Southern Hemisphere are dominated by wood and leaves of the riparian wetlands to dry uplands through the Permian. This shift
is accompanied by a decrease in abundance and ultimate extinc- swamp forests and marshes, presumably from refugia. Isoetaleans
tion of the Dicynodon (a therapsid) assemblage (Smith, 1995), were preadapted to oligotrophic conditions, so may have had an
which was replaced by the Early Triassic Lystrosaurus assem- advantage in the post-catastrophic environments of the Early Tri-
blage (Rubidge, 1995) soon thereafter. Dicynodonts (Fig. 11) assic (Looy et al., 1999, 2001). Extant Isoetes (quillworts) are ter-
were the most conspicuous terrestrial animals of the Late Perm- restrial to submerged aquatic plants with slender, quill-like leaves.
ian, and among the first herbivorous vertebrates. They may have Air chambers in the leaves of extant and fossil Isoetites support
used their tusks for digging and slicing horsetail stems and buried an aquatic ancestry (Taylor and Hickey, 1992). In some modern
rhizomes (Rayner, 1992). Some, like Lystrosaurus, were semi- wetland investigations, submergent and floating vegetation char-
aquatic and inhabited lowland riparian wetlands (Carroll, 1988). acterizes shallow water or aquatic (e.g., Keddy, 2000) wetlands.
The evolution of vertebrate herbivory opened up a new Although emergent pteridophytes had been common in wetlands
niche to be exploited in wetland food webs. Modern wetlands along lake and river margins in the Paleozoic, adaptation to a
support a wide variety of large grazing and browsing mammals submerged habit in Triassic Isoetes would have allowed for the
including buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and hippopotamuses (Hip- expansion of wetlands further into the riverine, littoral, and palus-
popotamus amphibius) in Africa, moose (Alces alces) in North trine aquatic realms. Not only did isoetelean lycophytes diversify
America, water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Asia, and the man- into freshwater aquatic wetlands, but some genera may also have
atee (Trichecus sp.) in the Neotropics (Bacon, 1997). In extant been salt tolerant. Pleuromeia and Cyclostrobus have both been
wetlands, large herbivores modify and reshape wetlands. Their interpreted as salt-marsh plants because of their occurrence in
trails become corridors for other animals and may even modify coastal lagoon facies (Retallack, 1997).
flow paths. Herbivory can lead to increasing diversity of habi- As the postextinction recovery continued, lycopsid-domi-
tat and thereby species, modification of nutrient cycles, as well nated wetland assemblages were replaced by gymnosperm-domi-
as expanding resilience and resistance of flora to disturbance nated assemblages, divided broadly into the Dicroidium (pteri-
(Naiman and Rogers, 1997; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). dosperm) flora of southern Pangaea and the Sciatophyllum flora
of northern Pangaea (Retallack, 1995; Looy et al., 1999, 2001).
Effects of the End-Permian Extinction on Wetlands By the Middle Triassic, peatlands once again became part of
the global ecosystem witnessed by the presence of thin coals in
Reduction in wetland area in the modern world has been Northern Hemisphere rift basins and more extensive and thick
shown to decrease biodiversity because so many animals rely on coals in Antarctica (Fig. 12; Visscher et al., 1996; Looy et al.,
wetlands for at least part of their life cycle (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1999; Retallack, 1995; Walker, 2000; Scotese, 2001; Thomas,
2000: Bacon, 1997; Keddy, 2000); the reduction of wetland area 2002). The widespread coals in Antarctica continued the trend of
in the Permian may have caused similar perturbations throughout high-latitude peat mires begun in the Permian. In Antarctica, mires
Gondwana, leading into the end-Permian extinction event. Aside were dominated by gymnosperms assigned to the Peltaspermales
from loss of habitat, food, and nutrients, reductions in wetland area (Dicroidium), cycadophytes, and ferns (Taylor and Taylor, 1990),
would also have reduced critical hydrological functions provided whereas tree ferns and rhizomatous ferns, conifers, cycadeoids,
by wetlands. Decreasing flood storage capacity would have led to gnetaleans, and pentoxylaleans became more common in the
increased variability in continental and coastal hydrology, and pos- Late Triassic and persisted into the Cretaceous (Pigg et al., 1993;
sibly increased susceptibility of ecotonal areas to flash flooding. Retallack et al., 1996). There is growing evidence that many plant
The end-Permian mass extinction caused almost total col- lineages that characterize later Triassic and Jurassic landscapes,
lapse of the remaining wetland ecosystems (Retallack 1995; including wetlands, originated in the Permian, and thus survived
Visscher et al., 1996; MacLeod et al., 2000; Rees et al., 2000). the Permo-Triassic extinction. These include peltasperms (Kerp,
This is indicated by the dieback of arborescent vegetation and the 1988), some cycads (DiMichele et al., 2001), and corystosperms
high-diversity Glossopteris flora (Visscher et al., 1996), as well (Kerp et al., 2004). As a consequence, the Permo-Triassic event or
as the global absence of coal beds in the Early Triassic (Retallack events that led to massive marine extinctions may have affected
1995; Retallack and Krull, this volume). In the northern conti- terrestrial landscapes mainly by causing ecological restructuring
nents, many pteridospermous taxa and most of the arborescent more than mass extinction—this in spite of an apparent global
lycopsids that had dominated the vast peatlands of the Carbon- absence of mire habitats in the early Triassic.
iferous went extinct (Phillips et al., 1985; DiMichele and Hook,
1992; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993). Seasonal and Riparian Wetlands
TRIASSIC Parts of the famous Petrified Forest of the Chinle Formation

in the southwestern United States are examples of the reestab-
Wetland Recovery lished forest swamps (non-peat-forming wetlands) during wet-
ter Triassic intervals (e.g., Demko et al., 1998; Creber and Ash,
Postextinction wetland habitat recovery occurred first with the 2004). The Chinle represents a paludal complex of streams, lakes,
short-term occupation of low-lying areas, by lycopsid isoetalean and swamps (Stewart et al., 1972; Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983;
Figure 12. Triassic paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

tions of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires (modified
from Scotese, 2001). AN = Antarctica, AU = Australia, CH = China,
EA = Eurasia.
Long and Padian, 1986). The famous petrified logs are assigned
mostly to Araucarioxylon-wood, although several new taxa have
been recognized (Creber and Ash, 2004). These trees are inter-
preted as conifers that grew to heights of 56 m with diameters of
3 m (Ash, 2003). The lineages originated in the Southern Hemi-
sphere (Stockey, 1982; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993) and spread
northward into riparian settings, including forested wetlands.
Common neocalamites, ferns, and lycopsids grew in emergent
freshwater marshes within the Chinle paludal complex (Fig. 13),
whereas horsetails, cycadeoids, cycads, and ferns occupied flood-
plains (Demko et al., 1998). Some Equisetites were arborescent,
similar to their Carboniferous ancestors (Fig. 7D).
Increasing evidence of seasonality in the Chinle complex Figure 13. A phytosaur (Ph) maneuvers through a riverine marsh in the
(Fiorillo et al., 2000; Therrien and Fastovsky, 2000) suggests that Triassic of the southwestern United States. Some of the Equisetites (E)
wetlands may have been more similar to seasonal riparian marshes horsetails were arborescent. The riparian wetland is also home to the
and wet meadows than to more continuously wet marshes or bogs. small fish Semionotus (S), the large dipnoan Ceratodus (Ce), the proto-
saur Malerisaurus (M), large, herding Placerias (Pl) dicynodonts, and
Remains of carnivorous archosaurs, phytosaurs, metoposaurs, and the small theropod dinosaur Coelophysis (Co). The floodplain consists
small dinosaurs (such as Coelophysis, Fig. 13) are known from of horsetails and ferns bordered by a riparian forest of giant Araucari-
the Petrified Forest National Park (Stewart et al., 1972; Long and oxylon (A) conifers.
Padian, 1986; Therrien and Fastovsky, 2000). Dicynodonts, such
as Placerias, also are found (Fig. 13) and play a role similar to
that of large wetland herbivores in Permian wetlands. In modern
semiarid to arid areas, riparian wetlands are critical to maintaining remaining in dry seasons. Thus, the alligators’ behavior provides
vertebrate biodiversity (National Research Council, 1995; Bacon, crucial habitats for a wide variety of wetland species (Craighead,
1997), and likely were similarly important in ancient semiarid and 1968; Jones et al., 1994). The relationship between crocodylo-
arid environments (Ashley and Liutkus, 2002). morphs (crocodile-like and other reptiles) and wetlands began
in the mid-Triassic, during the adaptive radiation of archosaurs.
Phytosaurs and Crocodile Ancestors in Wetlands In the Triassic, the crocodylomorphs replaced labyrinthodonts
as the dominant large, semiaquatic wetland predators. Several
Crocodiles, alligators, and gavials are common in modern archosaur groups with crocodile-like ankles (crurotarsi) evolved
wetlands especially in estuarine wetlands, coastal marshes, and in the Triassic, and two taxa are convergent with modern croco-
mangrove swamps. In some wetlands, crocodilians are keystone diles in habitat and morphology—the Phytosauria and Suchia.
species and play a crucial role in faunal and floral maintenance as Phytosaurs (Parasuchia) look like modern gavials but had nostrils
biological “wetland engineers.” In the Everglades, for example, on top of their heads near their eyes, rather than at the end of
the paths and dens of alligators (gator holes) maintain waterways the snout (Fig. 13). Phytosaurs were common in the fluvial and
that would otherwise fill with sediment, and may be the only pools riparian marsh and forest wetlands of the Triassic in Virginia and
the southwestern United States but were extinct by the end of the Krasilov (1975) interpreted a series of typical Jurassic wet-
Triassic (Chatterjee, 1986; Long and Padian, 1986). land floral zonations in northern Eurasia. Ptilophyllum bennet-
Suchians, the group that includes the Crocodylomorpha and tites are interpreted to have occupied mangrove-like wetlands,
is ancestral to extant crocodilians, originated as small, terres- while marshes were characterized by monospecific stands of
trial, bipedal reptiles in the Triassic. The evolution of an aquatic large Equisetites. Bogs (forest mires) along lake margins and in
habit by eusuchian crocodylomorphs in the Jurassic allowed riparian settings had a canopy formed from taxodiaceous conifers
these semiaquatic archosaurs to replace the phytosaurs. By the (Elatides) and arborescent ferns (Dictyophyllum, Todites), with
Cretaceous, giant crocodile-like eusuchians, such as the 12 m an understory composed of ferns and Ptilophyllum bennettites.
long Deinosuchus, were inhabiting estuarine wetlands along Cycadeoids were the dominant flora of the Middle Jurassic coals
the southern coast of North America (Schwimmer, 2002). Also of Mexico (Person and Delevoryas, 1982; Cross and Phillips,
by the Cretaceous, Crocodylia (modern crocodile group) had 1990). Ferns (e.g., Coniopteris), with lesser contribution from
evolved (Schwimmer, 2002) and represented the only surviving conifers and ginkophytes, dominated Middle to Late Jurassic
archosaurs (Carroll, 1988). mires of western North America (Silverman and Harris, 1967;
Miller, 1987). Jurassic coals of China were dominated by tree
TRIASSIC-JURASSIC ferns, dwarf coniferophytes, and secondary cycads (Miao et al.,
1989). These examples highlight the increasing variability of flo-
Frogs, Salamanders, and Turtles in Wetlands ral associations in Jurassic wetlands. By the Late Jurassic, coals
also were accumulating in several basins in the former Soviet
Among the most common animals in extant tropical and tem- Union, Mongolia, south China, and Iran (Fig. 14; Scotese, 2001;
perate wetlands are frogs, salamanders, and turtles. Although the Walker, 2000; Scotese, 2001; Thomas, 2002).
association of amphibians and reptiles with wetlands began in the
Paleozoic, extant classes did not evolve until the Mesozoic. The Wetland Preservation of Early Mammals
possible ancestor of frogs, Triadobatrachus, is reported from the
Early Triassic and provides a link between earlier labyrinthodonts Much of our understanding of the early diversification of
and frogs (Carroll, 1988). Chunerpeton, the oldest salamander, is mammals comes from material collected in a brown coal from
known from Triassic lacustrine deposits of Mongolia (Gao and the Guimarota coal mine, central Portugal. The mine was worked
Shuban, 2003). Likewise, Proganochelys (=Triassochelys), the from 1973 to 1982 exclusively for paleontological purposes
oldest freshwater turtle, is known from paludal marsh deposits of (Gloy, 2000; Martin, 2000), providing a detailed insight into the
Germany, Southeast Asia, and North America (Gaffney, 1990). changing seres within the mire. The largest biomass contribution
Members of each of these groups are dependent on wetlands for to the Guimarota paleomire was from Araucariaceae (conifers)
part of their life cycle and serve as important links in the trophic and horsetails (Equisetites) with lower biomass contribution
web (Weller, 1994; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). For example, from pteridophytes (Deltoidospora, Dicksoniaceae), cycads,
tadpoles eat small plants and invertebrates and in turn, are eaten and ginkgophytes (Van Erve and Mohr, 1988). Entombed within
by fish. Later in life, adult frogs eat insects. Similar trophic links the Guimarota peat are ostracods, gastropods, freshwater and
between these taxa likely were established by the Jurassic. brackish molluscs, hybodont sharks, amphibians, small reptiles
(turtles, crocodiles, lizards), the giant crocodile Machimosau-
JURASSIC rus, small dinosaurs, and mammals. The exceptional mamma-
lian biota consists of Multituburculata, Docodonta, and Holoth-
Global Perturbations and Expanding Wetlands eria (Martin, 2000). In many modern wetlands, small mammals
(especially rodents) are the dominant terrestrial and semiaquatic
The end-Triassic mass extinction is coincident with green- herbivores (Speight and Blackith, 1983). Although the Guima-
house warming, resulting in global perturbations in the carbon rota mammals show that small mammals were occupying wet-
cycle and a near-total species-level turnover of megaflora (McEl- land habitats, expansion into semiaquatic lifestyles may not have
wain et al., 1999). Throughout the Jurassic, global warming and occurred until the Tertiary.
increased precipitation caused a gradual shift in wetland habitats
from narrow riparian, lake-fringing swamps and marshes to more JURASSIC-CRETACEOUS
extensive conifer-dominated swamps and mires in the Cretaceous
(Cross and Phillips, 1990). Southern Hemisphere swamps and Mangals in Wetlands
forest mires were dominated by podocarpaceous and araucar-
ian conifers, and Northern Hemisphere swamps and forest mires Coastal mangals of coniferous affinity are interpreted from
were dominated by taxodiaceous conifers (Wing and Sues, 1992; Wealden strata across the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of the
Askin and Spicer, 1995). Elements of this zonation remain to this Northern Hemisphere. This group, informally known as the fre-
day. An extinct conifer family, the Cheirolepidiaceae, were com- nelopsids, are woody trees assigned to the Cheirolepidiaceae
mon in the Tropics, particularly in coastal wetland settings. that produced Classopollis-type pollen (Axsmith et al., 2004).
Figure 14. Jurassic paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

tions of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires (modified from
Scotese, 2001). AU = Australia, CA = Central America, CH = China, CI
= Cimmeria, EA = Eurasia, IN = India, SA = South America.
Pseudofrenelopsis and related taxa are common components of

Early Cretaceous deposits of Africa, England, eastern Europe, Figure 15. Radiation of aquatic plants and thereby aquatic wetlands
and North America, and sedimentological criteria were used by in the Cretaceous and early Tertiary periods. Dates and image for Ar-
Upchurch and Doyle (1981) to place these trees within a low- chaefructus from Sun et al. (2002); Ceratophyllales from Dilcher et
diversity, tidally influenced coastal regime. This is similar to the al. (1996); Eichhornia from Patil and Singh (1978); Limnobiophyllum
from Kvaček (1995); Marsileaceae from Lupia (2000); Nelumbona-
Upper Jurassic Purbeck beds where an in situ forest is preserved ceae from Dilcher (2000); Nymphaeaceae from Friis et al. (2001);
within a thin, carbonaceous marl paleosol (a well-drained, imma- Potamogeton from Berry (1937), Bremer (2000), Collinson (2002);
ture rendzina) of an intertidal and supratidal sequence (Francis, ancestral Salviniaceae from Hall (1975); Posidonia and Thalassocha-
1983, 1986). Associated with the Purbeck conifers are a few ris (not shown) seagrasses are inferred to have Cretaceous origins in
cycadophyte stems. Although these trees exhibit no evidence of Brasier (1975) and Kuo and den Hartog (2000).
buttressing or mangrove habit, they are encased in an algal stro-
matolitic limestone that formed in response to a change in base
level of saline marine waters. Physiognomic characters of the fre-
nelopsids including shoot morphology, the presence of thick cuti- trend that would be duplicated by unrelated angiosperms later
cles, reduced leaves, sunken stomata, and succulent appearance, in the Cretaceous and in the Tertiary (Fig. 15). Extant Salvinia
are morphological adaptations to water stress in saline or dry have the ability to grow quickly and can form thick mats that
environments (Upchurch and Doyle, 1981; Gomez et al., 2001). limit sunlight and open water for other wetland plants and aquatic
Aside from stratigraphic and physiognomic indicators, several fauna (Julien et al., 2002). By the mid-Cretaceous, water ferns
isotopic studies of Cretaceous European fossil plant assemblages like Hausmannia were influencing lacustrine aquatic wetlands,
using isotopic 12C/13C analysis indicate that Frenelopsis in mar- acting as pond colonizers in mires (Spicer, 2002). In extant wet-
ginal marine facies has elevated 13C relative to other genera in lands, the accumulation of aquatic plant mats and detritus, as well
more distal facies, suggestive of stress and possibly saline influ- as sediment trapping from rooted aquatic plants, is an important
ences in salt-water marshes (Nguyen Tu et al., 2002). part of pond-filling successions.
JURASSIC-CRETACEOUS CRETACEOUS
Aquatic Ferns in Wetlands Aquatic Angiosperms in Wetlands
Marsileaceae and Salviniaceae are heterosporous aquatic Today, with notable exceptions, wetlands are dominated by
ferns whose origins can be traced to the Late Jurassic-Early Cre- angiosperms. The timing of origin of this group is subject to con-
taceous (Yamada and Kato, 2002) and mid-Cretaceous, respec- siderable debate, but the oldest undisputed fossil angiosperms
tively (Hall, 1975; Skog and Dilcher, 1992; Pryer, 1999). Extant are from the Early Cretaceous (Hickey and Doyle, 1997; Sun et
Marsilea are rooted shallow-water ferns, while the Salvini- al., 1998, 2002; Sun and Dilcher, 2002). Angiosperm origins are
aceae consist of free-floating aquatic ferns. Free-floating habits hotly debated (Scott et al., 1960; Crane, 1993; Crane et al., 1995),
extended the diversity of vascular macrophytes in wetlands, a with some authors inferring evolution in upland areas (e.g.,
Stebbins 1974, 1976) while others have suggested origination essence, there is an ecological asymmetry between swamp envi-
in coastal lowlands (e.g., Retallack and Dilcher, 1981). Regard- ronments and terra firma environments (DiMichele et al., 1987);
less of their origin, some of the oldest angiosperms were aquatic plants adapted to the flooded, often low-nutrient conditions of
plants (Sun et al., 1998). Archaeofructus, the oldest known pos- swamps display physiological specializations that reduce their
sible angiosperm, is interpreted as a submerged aquatic plant competitive abilities in terra firma settings. In contrast, the strin-
(Sun et al., 2002). Aquatic angiosperms (Fig. 15) developed a gent physical conditions of permanently to periodically flooded
series of biochemical, morphological, and physiological spe- environments exclude plants from terra firma environments. This
cializations that allowed them to diversify into shallow aquatic results in sharp differences in species richness between these
wetlands (littoral, limnetic). By the Early to mid-Cretaceous, broad environmental categories within any given climatic zone
several freshwater families with rooted, floating leaf habits are (DiMichele et al., 2001). Hence, although angiosperms domi-
recorded. These include water lilies (Nymphaeaceae, Cabom- nated many terrestrial ecosystems by the end of the Cretaceous
baceae), lotus (Nelumbonaceae), plants with affinities to horn- (Lidgard and Crane, 1988; Wing and Boucher, 1998; Graham,
worts (Ceratophyllaceae) (Dilcher, 2000; Dilcher et al., 1996; 1999), and palms and at least 20 broad-leaved angiosperm taxa,
Friis et al., 2001), and possible water milfoils (Halogragaceae) including genera that contain common extant wetland plants such
(Hernández-Castillo and Cervallos-Ferriz, 1999). By the Late as Platanus (sycamore), are preserved in Cretaceous coal-bear-
Cretaceous, the radiation of aquatic angiosperms also included ing strata (Parker and Balsley, 1977; Tidwell, 1975; Balsey and
a free-floating habit, with Lymnobiophyllum providing a possible Parker, 1983; Cross and Phillips, 1990), angiosperms remained
ancestral link between duckweeds (Lemnaceae) and the aroids only minor components in peat-accumulating wetlands (Pelzer
(Araceae) (Stockey et al., 1997). The diversification of aquatic et al., 1992; Saward, 1992; Hickey and Doyle, 1997; Wing and
angiosperms and ferns with floating leaves and free-floating mor- Boucher, 1998; Nguyen Tu et al., 2002). The exception occurs
phologies would have provided new habitats and trophic links for in the Southern Hemisphere, where the coniferous flora began
fish, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates in freshwater lacus- to be replaced by Nothofagus (southern beech) in Antarctica and
trine and riverine wetlands, as well as in shallow, open-water then Australia toward the end of the Cretaceous (Muller, 1984;
wetlands. Likewise, the diversification of various aquatic plant Saward, 1992; Hill and Dettman, 1996).
morphologies would have set the stage for increased partitioning
of flooded wetlands and hydroseres, more similar to those found Dinosaurs in Paludal Wetlands
in extant limnic and paludal wetlands.
Many reptiles inhabited—or traversed—and perished in
CRETACEOUS Mesozoic wetlands. By the early Jurassic, herbivorous dinosaurs
had replaced synapsids in terrestrial wetlands. The most famous
The Return of Extensive Peatlands dinosaurs associated with Cretaceous wetlands are the Bernissart
Iguanodons from the Luronne coal seam, collected in Belgium
The Cretaceous represents the second episode of global coal in 1878 (Fig. 17). These ornithopods are historically famous for
formation. Extensive Cretaceous coals in western North Amer-
ica, China, the former Soviet Union, Central America, northwest-
ern South America, and New Zealand (Saward, 1992; Walker,
2000; Scotese, 2001; Thomas, 2002) indicate that mires (fens,
bogs, forest swamps) once again became widespread (Fig. 16).
Northern Hemisphere peatlands continued to be dominated by
conifers (Abietites, Athrotacites, Moriconea, Podozamites, Pro-
tophyllocladus, Sequoia, Metasequoia) with an understory of
ferns, Equisetites, and less commonly, cycadophytes (Parker,
1975; Knoll, 1985; LaPasha and Miller, 1985; Spicer and Par-
rish, 1986; Miller, 1987; Cross and Phillips, 1990; Pelzer, et al.,
1992; Saward, 1992; Spicer et al., 1992; Shearer et al., 1995;
Hickey and Doyle, 1997; Spicer, 2002). In some raised mire suc-
cessions, ferns and mosses were important (Hickey and Doyle,
1997). In the Southern Hemisphere, the palynology of coals
from New Zealand and Australia indicates that podocarps and
ferns dominated forest mires (Moore et al., this volume). These
trends demonstrate an evolutionary stability and/or longevity in Figure 16. Cretaceous paleogeography and paleoclimates showing lo-
cations of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires (modified
mire settings (as compared with floral changes in upland environ- from Scotese, 2001). AU = Australia, CA = Central America, CH =
ments), a pattern of conservatism that has occurred several times China, EA = Eurasia, NA = North America, NZ = New Zealand, SA
in the geologic past and may be explained by incumbency. In = South America.
(1) being the first complete dinosaur skeletons recovered, (2) pro- ceous and rapidly spread into many wetland and wetland-fring-
viding the first evidence that dinosaurs traveled in groups, and ing environments of the Neotropics (Singh, 1999). The Late
(3) proving that some dinosaurs were bipedal (Norman, 1980; Cretaceous to Paleocene marks the zenith of systematic diver-
Forster, 1997). Although such bones are not preserved commonly sity in the genus, with only N. fructicans constituting monotypic
in peat, the unusual groundwater chemistries of wetlands can stands of the palm presently. Associated with N. fructicans in
enhance preservation. In North America, the recovery of a puta- tidally influenced coastal zones is the mangrove fern Acrosti-
tive fossilized four-chambered heart of the ornithischian dinosaur chum, which is first reported from the Late Cretaceous (Bonde,
Thescelosaurus may owe its preservation to burial in a riparian 2002), and spread into the Eocene (Collinson, 2002).
forest habitat (Fisher et al., 2000). Another Cretaceous mangal is Weichselia reticulata (Shi-
In many cases, trackways provide evidence of vertebrates naq and Bandel, 1998). This tree fern is found in the Late Cre-
in wetlands. Thousands of dinosaur footprints have been found taceous of Bahariya, North Africa, with bivalves, gastropods,
in the roof strata of Cretaceous coal mines (Peterson, 1924; sharks, fish, turtles, crocodyliforms, and at least five genera
Balsey and Parker, 1983; Parker and Rowley, 1989). Likewise, of dinosaurs. The dinosaur Paralititan stromeri is one of the
trackways from the Wessex Formation, Isle of Wight, England, largest herbivores, whereas Spinosaurus and Charcharodonto-
were preserved in coastal floodplain, riparian wetlands. Twenty- saurus are two of the largest carnivores, of all time (Smith et
two dinosaur species are known from the Isle of Wight, includ- al., 2001; Lacovera et al., 2002). All appear to have lived in or
ing Iguanodon and the fish-eating theropod Baronyx (Martill and around this Cretaceous coastal swamp.
Naish, 2001). Some beds represent catenas formed in seasonal Modern mangrove swamps serve many important ecologi-
wetlands, similar to modern tropical and subtropical river sys- cal functions, including nutrient cycling, and are net exporters
tems such as the Pantanal of the Amazon Basin, Brazil (Wright, of organic material into adjacent estuaries. They are important
et al. 2000). habitats for fluvial, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems (Bacon,
1997; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). These links lead to high
Angiosperm Mangroves productivity and biodiversity, a possible reason for the diversity
and size of the gigantic dinosaurs at the Bahariya site (Smith
Mangroves are a large group of unrelated, salt-tolerant et al., 2001). Modern mangrove swamps also play an impor-
trees and associated non-woody taxa including ferns (mangals). tant function in sedimentation and storm surge baffling along
Although earlier plants have been interpreted as occupying tropical coastlines. These functions probably existed in earlier
possible mangal habitats, unequivocal salt-tolerant mangroves inferred mangal habitats, but the adaptation of extant taxa in
related to extant species appeared after the angiosperms in the the Cretaceous allows for more actualistic comparisons of man-
Cretaceous (Muller, 1984; Aaron et al., 1999; Hogarth, 1999; grove functions in the Late Cretaceous through Tertiary, based
Gee, 2001). Nypa palms (Arecaceae) evolved during the Creta- on the functions of extant genera.
Figure 17. Dinosaurs in a Euramerican

Cretaceous mire. Iguanodon herd passes
through conifer-dominated forest mire.
Ground cover consists of abundant ferns,
Equisetites, and less common palms.
CRETACEOUS–TERTIARY Aldrovandra is recognized in the Oligocene (Collinson et al.,

1993) and spores of Utricularia (Lentibulariaceae) have been
Marine Angiosperms: Sea Grasses identified from the Miocene (Muller, 1984). The fossil history
of other carnivorous plants is less certain. In general, their small
Phylogenetic analyses of extant sea grasses suggests that stature and delicate nature, in combination with alteration due
marine angiosperms have evolved in at least three separate lin- to early and late diagenesis within organic-rich substrates, result
eages (Les et al., 1997). Sea grasses have a relatively poor fos- in a poor fossil record.
sil record, but Posidonia (Potamogetonaceae) is known from
the Cretaceous (Kuo and den Hartog, 2000) and phylogenetic Amber in Wetlands
analyses support a Late Cretaceous origin (Bremer, 2000).
Macrofossils of the sea grass genera Thalasssodendron, Cymo- Most of the world’s amber deposits are found in Cretaceous
docea (Potamogetonaceae), and Thalassia (Hydrocaritaceae) and Tertiary lignites, although amber often is reworked into
are known from the middle Eocene of Florida (Lumber et al., other sedimentary deposits. Cretaceous ambers are known from
1984). Sea grasses are halophytes, and their evolution involved England, Alaska, and New Jersey in the United States, Canada,
physical reduction in floral and leaf structures and xylem tissue, Burma, and the Middle East. More well known are the Tertiary
changes in reproductive strategies, and a physiological change deposits from the Baltic, Dominican Republic, and Mexico
to bicarbonate utilization in photosynthesis (Brasier, 1975; Ste- (Poinar, 1992; Grimaldi et al., 2002). The New Jersey Cretaceous
venson, 1988; Kuo and den Hartog, 2000). Extant sea grasses ambers preserve the most diverse assemblage of plants and ani-
are completely aquatic, with habitats extending to more than mals, including 25 orders comprising 125 families and more than
6 m depth (which is the present limit of wetlands by the Ramsar 250 species. New Jersey ambers formed in coastal swamps domi-
classification). Hence, the evolution of submerged sea grasses nated by the conifer Pityoxylon (Pinaceae similar to Pinus, Picea,
extended the range of wetlands in coastal marine and subtidal or Larix). These ambers contain the oldest fossil mushroom, ant,
estuarine environments, providing new habitats and resources potter wasp, and bee, as well as the only Cretaceous flower pre-
for invertebrates and vertebrates. Sea grasses are particularly served in amber (Grimaldi et al., 2000).
important because they dominate some of the most productive Tertiary Baltic amber was produced by Agathis-like (Kauri
habitats on Earth (Stevenson, 1988; Bacon, 1997), and their pine) araucariacean trees in conifer-dominated swamps and
presence changes local hydrodynamics, thus enhancing sedi- moist lowland forests. These ambers preserve a diverse assem-
mentation of fines out of the water column. In fact, there is a blage including amphipods, isopods, centipedes, millipedes,
recognized facultative successional sequence between man- dragonflies, roaches, beetles, and the oldest praying mantids
grove swamps, sea grass meadows, and coral reefs, which may (Poinar, 1992). Common wetland forms, including aquatic larvae
have its origins in the Late Cretaceous with the first appearance and nymphs of caddis flies, mayflies, and waterbugs, provide evi-
of sea grasses and mangroves (Brasier, 1975; McCoy and Heck, dence for standing water in some parts of the araucarian swamps
1976). Such a succession and integrated trophic web explain the (Larsson, 1978).
shared pan-Tethyan distribution of sea grasses with coral reef
fish, decapod crustaceans, molluscs (McCoy and Heck, 1976), Blood Suckers in Wetlands
foraminifera (Brasier, 1975), and even manatees (Domning et
al., 1982). Many people associate black flies (Diptera) and mosquitoes
(Culicidae) with wetlands. Although insects have been associated
Carnivorous Plants in Wetlands with wetlands since at least the Devonian (e.g., Rolfe, 1980), the
oldest undisputed black flies and mosquitoes date from Late Cre-
Low-nutrient fens and bogs support some of the rarest and taceous amber (Poinar 1992; Grimaldi et al., 2000, 2002). Mod-
most diverse plant communities in modern mires, including ern mosquitoes are important transmitters of diseases such as
carnivorous plants (National Research Council, 1995; Bacon, malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and encephalitis. The asso-
1997). Modern species of carnivorous plants, including blad- ciation of these diseases with tropical wetlands is ingrained in
derworts (Utricularia), sundews (Drosera), and butterworts our society. In fact, the translation of the word malaria (mal aria)
(Pinguicula), grow in acidic fens, bogs, and swamps. This rela- means bad air, derived from the disease’s association with fetid
tionship may indicate that plant carnivory arose in angiosperms marshes. When wetland mosquitoes (and other insects) began
as an adaptation to acidic, low-nutrient conditions of mire habi- to transmit diseases is uncertain (Martins-Neto, 2003), although
tats. Carnivory arose not just once, but separately in 18 genera Statz (1994) speculated that Oligocene mosquitoes spread dis-
among six different plant orders (Juniper et al., 1989; DeGreef, eases. Insect-borne diseases may have influenced the evolution
1997). Seeds of Paleoadrovanda splendus, which are similar in of our own species, as indicated by the relationship between
appearance to those of the extant carnivorous genus Aldrovanda malaria and sickle cell disease. Although famous as pests and
(Droseraceae), a free-floating aquatic plant, are known from the disease vectors, mosquito and black fly larvae are important parts
Late Cretaceous (Knobloch and Mai, 1984; DeGreef, 1997). of many wetland food webs (Bacon, 1997).
Effects of the K-T Extinction on Wetlands Even single coal beds may represent a wide variety of mire
types. Palynological evidence indicates that Paleogene mire
The K-T extinction of the dinosaurs and a wide array of ver- floras initially were dominated by gymnosperms with increasing
tebrates and invertebrates led to extensive ecological restructur- importance of angiosperms through time (Nichols, 1995). This
ing in wetlands. At the same time, some of the fauna that survived continued a trend that started in the Late Cretaceous when mires
were obligate wetland inhabitants, such as crocodiles, turtles, and were dominated by conifers (Wing and Boucher, 1998; Graham,
frogs, suggesting that wetlands served as a faunal refugium dur- 1999). As angiosperms became increasingly important quanti-
ing the K-T event. Wetlands tend to be inhabited by conservative tatively, the resultant coals varied significantly in organic facies
taxa adapted to some aspect of limiting conditions, so wetland and in quality (Nichols, 1995), because of the increasing diver-
fauna may be preadapted to survival of mass extinctions. sity of specialized mire types that could contribute to a single
The extinction is also associated with global floristic peat and ultimately coal bed. Eocene coals of the U.S. Gulf Coast
changes (Vajda et al., 2001), although these were mostly concen- accumulated from successions of freshwater herbaceous commu-
trated in the Northern Hemisphere, dominantly, North America nities enriched in ferns, to freshwater Juglandaceous mire for-
(Askin, 1988; Johnson et al., 1989; Wolbach et al., 1990; Wing ests codominated with palms and Nyssa (tupelo), and, depending
and Sues, 1992; Nichols and Pillmore, 2000). In some parts of upon the sequence stratigraphic relationship of the coal to overly-
western North America, the iridium anomaly occurs within coal ing marine sediments, even to mangrove swamps (Fig. 19A; Ray-
beds, which provide a unique glimpse of successive responses mond et al., 1997). Miocene lignites from central Europe exhibit
to global catastrophe. In these areas, the ejecta cloud from the complex successions of wetlands including limnic to littoral
inferred bolide impact deposited a thin layer of glassy debris in aquatic wetlands with Potamogeton (pond weed), reed thickets
the mires that eventually was altered to kaolinite (Nichols and in freshwater marshes, Taxodium-Nyssa forest mires, mixed her-
Pillmore, 2000). This was followed by an increase in ferns, the baceous angiosperm fens, palm-dominated fens and forest mires,
“fern spike” found at many locations worldwide. The increase in Myrica (bayberry) bogs or fens, riparian emergent wetlands with
ferns is associated with the elimination of much of the pre-exist- thickets of Alnus and Cornus (dogwood), mixed conifer (Mar-
ing swamp flora (especially deciduous dicots), and is interpreted coduria, Sequoia) forest mires, and oligotrophic low-diversity
to represent post-catastrophic colonization by pioneering taxa conifer bogs or raised mires (Fig. 19B; Teichmüller, 1958, 1962,
(Tschudy et al., 1984 Askin, 1988; Nichols and Pillmore, 2000). 1982; Lancucka-Srodoniowa, 1966; Knobloch, 1970; Schneider,
The most significant influences were on the angiosperms; the 1992, 1995; Mosbrugger et al., 1994). These examples illustrate
least were on conifers, ferns, pteridophytes, and mosses (Nichols the increasing diversity of angiosperms in Tertiary wetlands, as
and Fleming, 1990), the common wetland inhabitants. Likewise, well as resultant wetland partitioning, when compared with those
in New Zealand, Vajda et al. (2001) interpreted recolonization of of the Cretaceous and Carboniferous.
a waterlogged, K-T acidic substrate by a succession of moss and Likewise, Tertiary plate tectonics exerted a profound effect
ground ferns, and then tree ferns. These plants would have been on the distribution and biogeography of wetland floras (especially
preadapted to post-catastrophic acidic environments through in the Southern Hemisphere), as the Gondwanan continents sepa-
adaptations gained in pre-catastrophe mire habitats. rated, and in some cases collided with northern continents (Chris-
tophel, 1989; Wing and Sues, 1992; Askin and Spicer, 1995;
TERTIARY Burnham and Graham, 1999; Graham, 1999).
Thick Peats and Peatland Successions
The Tertiary represents the third major interval during which

widespread peat accumulation occurred. Tertiary coals are known
from many basins worldwide (Scotese, 2001; Fig. 18), although
the greatest resources are in western North America, northwest-
ern and western South America, Germany, and Southeast Asia
(Walker, 2000; Thomas, 2002). Tertiary coal beds can be as much
as 90 m thick, whereas the thickest modern ombrotrophic mires
are generally less than 20 m thick (the peat representing accu-
mulation over the last ~7000 years). In fact, ombrotrophic mires
may be limited in their potential thickness by numerous condi-
tions including microbial respiration within the underlying peat
(Moore, 1995). Hence, the great thickness of some Tertiary coals
suggests that they cannot represent the accumulation of a single Figure 18. Tertiary (Miocene) paleogeography and paleoclimates
peat mire, but rather the accumulation of multiple, stacked mires showing locations of coal (black dots) and thereby known paleomires
(Shearer et al., 1994; Moore, 1995). (modified from Scotese, 2001).
Cypress Swamps and Mires dinal distribution occurring during the Paleogene and Neogene.
At least by the Oligocene, these wetlands occupied coastal set-
Taxodiaceous conifers had dominated Cretaceous North- tings of central Europe (Gastaldo et al., 1998), a distribution that
ern Hemisphere wetlands (Stewart and Rothwell, 1993; Shearer continued into the Miocene (Kovar-Eder et al., 2001); along the
et al., 1995), but Taxodium sp. (bald and pond cypress) did not Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America, taxodiaceous swamps
become dominant in swamps and forest mires until the early Ter- became well established in the Neogene (Rich et al., 2002). Both
tiary (Wing, 1987; Schneider, 1992, 1995; Kvac̆ek, 1998; Collin- peat-accumulating and minerogenic swamps persisted into the
son, 2000). By the Eocene, angiosperm-dominated wetlands had Miocene. Taxodiaceous and other coniferous taxa, however,
become more common in temperate riparian and lacustrine-mar- continued to contribute the bulk of biomass to north temperate
gin settings (Graham, 1999), but taxodiaceous swamps persisted peat mires, with little contribution from woody angiosperm taxa
at high latitudes above the Arctic Circle during the Eocene ther- (Mosbrugger et al., 1994). In the late Cenozoic, access to con-
mal maximum (Francis, 1991; Basinger et al., 1994; Greenwood tinuous habitats across latitudinal gradients controlled the distri-
and Basinger, 1995; Williams et al., 2003a, 2003b). Taxodiaceous bution of taxodiaceous conifers. Taxodium remained in eastern
swamps on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic con- North America because there were continuous habitats it could
sist of in situ assemblages of mummified tree stumps and forest- occupy during late Cenozoic climate changes; Metasequoia went
floor leaf-litter mats buried at different times over century to mil- extinct in western North America because similar habitats were
lennial time intervals. The picture that emerges in these swamps not present (Potts and Behrensmeyer, 1998).
is one of a vegetational mosaic wherein taxodiaceous conifers
(Metasequoia and Glyptostrobus) are laterally or stratigraphi- Tropical Palm Swamps
cally adjacent to mixed coniferous forests and angiosperm/fern
bogs, with the taxodiaceous swamp phase accounting for peat Angiosperms show marked increase in Tertiary wetlands.
accumulation. Hence, taxodiaceous swamps were more extensive Palms (monocots) are found in Tertiary coals from North Amer-
than at present, with geographic restriction to their present latitu- ica, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand (Packnall, 1989; Raymond
Figure 19. Diversification of wetland flora in Tertiary wetlands. (A) Wetlands interpreted from Eocene Gulf Coast coals (after data from Westgate
and Gee, 1990, and Raymond et al., 1995). (B) Wetlands interpreted for Miocene brown coals in Europe (based on data from Teichmuller, 1962,
1982, and Schneider, 1992, 1995). Coniferous trees are labeled. Angiosperms include A = Alnus (alder), C = Cyrilliceae, E = Ericaceae, F = Faga-
ceae, G = Glumiflorae (reeds), H = Hamamelidaceae (sweet gum), J = Juglandaceae, L = Lauraceae, Ma = Magnoliaceae, My = Myrica (myrtles
and bayberry), N = Nyssa (Tupelo), Pa = Palm, Po = Potamogeton (pond weed), and V = Viburnum. Ac = Acrostichum (mangrove fern).
et al., 1997; Lenz and Riegel, 2001). Today palms occupy a wide from the early Tertiary. In the Southern Hemisphere, one of the
range of habitats including wetlands, but most wetland palms most important arborescent angiosperms was Nothofagus (south-
occupy non-peat-producing swamps rather than mires. In the Ter- ern beech), which originated in Late Cretaceous high latitudes of
tiary, on the other hand, palms inhabited swamps and mires. Nypa South America or Antarctica (Muller, 1984; Hill and Dettman,
mangrove palms dominated coastal swamps of the Eocene Gulf 1996) and dispersed into Tertiary coal-forming mires of Australia
Coast of North America, often in close association with tropical and New Zealand (Barlow and Hyland, 1988; Christophel, 1989;
woody angiosperms, lycopsids, and ferns, similar to extant gen- Kershaw et al., 1991). Miocene and Oligocene peats of Austra-
era in coastal mangrove, back-mangrove swamps, and freshwater lia and New Zealand accumulated as coastal and estuarine mires
swamps (Fig. 19A; Fredriksen, 1985; Westgate and Gee, 1990). often dominated by Nothofagus with Myrtaceae, palms, podo-
These estuarine mangrove palm swamps are associated with a carps, and ferns (Pocknall, 1985; Kershaw et al., 1991; Shearer
diverse fauna including invertebrates, sharks and rays, bony fish, et al., 1995). Some of these peats may reflect successions from
amphibians, turtles, alligators, the giant aquatic snake Pterosh- podocarp- and fern-dominated floras to raised bogs with Noth-
enus, and a wide array of mammals including the four-toed horse ofagus (Sluiter et al., 1995).
Epihippus, the odd-toed ungulate Amynodon (which may have Among common northern-latitude arborescent genera, Nyssa
been semiaquatic), and sirenians (Westgate and Gee, 1990). (tupelo, black gum), Alnus (alder), Platanus (sycamore), Popu-
Although currently confined to a pantropical belt (Uhl and lus (poplar), and Salix (willow) became increasingly common in
Dransfield, 1987; Myers, 1990), palms extended into midlati- Tertiary temperate freshwater wetlands (Berger, 1998; Gastaldo
tude wetlands during the Eocene global warming event (Uhl and et al., 1998; Kvaček, 1998; Graham, 1999), with many similari-
Dransfield, 1987). Palm distribution since the Eocene has been ties to assemblages in extant North American Gulf Coast swamps
influenced by plate movements and climate changes (Burnham (Mosbrugger and Utescher, 1997). Some Eocene forest mires in
and Graham, 1999). The principal genera in extant palm wetlands Germany were dominated by Fagaceae (oak and chestnut) and
are Mauritia, Raphia, and Metroxylon (Myers, 1990). The oldest Betulaceae (beech), (Lenz and Riegel, 2001). Late Eocene to Oli-
Mauritia fossils are from the Paleocene and this genus became gocene Baltic amber swamps included common Fagus (chestnut)
widespread throughout the Tertiary of South America (Muller, and Quercus (oak) (Poinar, 1992; Stewart and Rothwell, 1993).
1984; Junk, 1983; Uhl and Dransfield, 1987; Maraven, 1998). Following late Miocene cooling, taxonomically diverse broad-
Extant Mauritia flexurosa has pneumatophores to cope with leaved forests (including Acer, Fagaceae, and Juglandaceae)
inundation in the swamps it inhabits, such as the várzea of the spread into northern-latitude wetlands (Askin and Spicer, 1995;
Amazon River in South America. Downriver in the Amazon, pure Agar and White, 1997).
stands of Raphia and Manicaria palms are adapted to twice-a- Wetland species in these angiosperm groups developed a
day tidal inundation. Manicaria is known from the early Eocene wide array of adaptations to wet substrates. Tupelo and black
London Clay (Collinson and Hooker, 1987). Further shoreward, gum have pneumatophores and buttressed bases, similar to bald
mangrove palms dominate the river mouth and coastal estuar- cypress (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000), an example of parallel
ies (Junk, 1983; Brinson, 1990). Another palm adaptation can evolution in different lineages of plants under the same physi-
be seen in Calamus sp., the rattan palm, spores of which are cal conditions. Willows (Salix spp.) and cottonwoods (Populus
found from the Paleocene (Muller, 1984). Extant rattan palms deltoides) have adventitious roots, which permit recovery from
are climbing vines and are common in many tropical wetlands. periodic flooding. Some modern willow and cottonwood spe-
These examples illustrate the wide range of wetland habitats to cies have seeds that can germinate while submerged (Kozlowski,
which palms have adapted and the specialization that typified the 1997). Willows also have large lenticels—structures that allow
radiation of angiosperms in the Tertiary, resulting in a diverse for gas exchange, an advantage in low-oxygen wetland habitats
array of wetland types and structural complexity within subcom- (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). These adaptations, and others,
munities of wetlands. resulted in a wide variety of freshwater swamp types (e.g., red
maple swamps, bottomland hardwood swamps) that were dis-
The Spread of Freshwater Broad-Leaved Wetlands tinct in terms of dominant tree taxa, climate, frequency of flood-
ing, and flood duration among other factors.
Aside from Palmae, there is a well-documented latitudinal
expansion of angiosperms throughout the Tertiary (see summaries Mangrove and Mangal Wetlands
in Wing and Sues, 1992; Potts and Behrensmeyer, 1992; Askin
and Spicer, 1995; Wing and Boucher, 1998; Graham, 1999). Mangroves increased in diversity throughout the Ceno-
Although the spread of angiosperms into wetland habitats lagged zoic, with Rhizophora (red mangrove) the most common extant
behind the spread of sister taxa outside of wetlands, partitioning of genus replacing Nypa sp. during the early Tertiary (Plaziat, 1995;
wetland habitats increased as angiosperms became increasingly Aaron et al., 1999; Graham, 1999). Some of the most recogniz-
specialized, as shown in the examples in Figure 19A and 19B. able modern genera evolved prior to the Miocene (Fig. 20). All
Higher-latitude wetlands show more floral turnover than tropical modern mangrove genera, except one, evolved before the close
and lower latitude wetlands, some elements of which remained of the eastern Tethys Ocean in the late Miocene, with continental
drift and changing climate altering species distributions (Plaziat, producing, and are subject to erosion during sea-level rise (e.g.,
1995; Aaron et al., 1999). Liu and Gastaldo, 1992). Marsh-to-swamp transitions may be the
Modern mangroves exhibit a wide variety of adaptations to result of less than a 30 cm change in elevation (e.g., Gastaldo et
salinity stress, some being modifications of wetland root types al., 1987) and mangrove-to-swamp transitions are similar (e.g.,
that had previously evolved in other wetland flora in response to Gastaldo and Huc, 1992).
inundation and oxygen stress. Rhizophora has prop and drop roots, The onset and zenith of the thermal maximum allowed for
Bruguiera has knee roots, and Avicennia has pneumatophores the expansion of mangals to higher latitudes but also may have
(Fig. 20). In mangroves, cell membranes in these root systems perturbed the tropical wetlands closer to the equator. Rull (1999)
exclude salt ions. Some modern mangrove species exhibit new documents a stepped and gradual change in the marsh and back-
adaptations to salt tolerance among wetland flora, such as salt- mangrove swamps of the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela, where
secreting glands and the ability to concentrate and then shed salt Paleocene taxa are interpreted to be of pantropical distribution,
in bark and old leaves (Kozlowski, 1997; Hogarth, 1999). Vivipar- whereas Eocene assemblages are more restricted to the Neo-
ity is another important adaptation to salt tolerance in some man- tropics. Thereafter, there is near-complete replacement of these
groves (Koslowski, 1997; Hogarth, 1999; Mitsch and Gosselink, Middle Eocene forms with typical Oligocene–Recent mangrove
2000). Rhizophora propagules germinate on the plant and then fall taxa, including Rhizophora, a trend reported globally (Muller,
into the water, where they float until reaching water of appropriate 1980; Rull, 1998).
salinity; the propagules then tilt on end and take root. At what point
each of these adaptations evolved is uncertain, although fossil evi- Faunal Traps in Wetlands
dence of viviparity is known from the early to mid Eocene London
Clay (Collinson, et al., 1993; Collinson, 2000). Tertiary lignites and associated strata contain diverse flora
The biogeographic distribution of mangroves throughout the and fauna. Some of the most famous Eocene vertebrates come
Cenozoic parallels global climate changes up until the Eocene from German lignites. The Geissel peat was a faunal trap with
thermal maximum, with a range contraction of this wetland to many fossils found in so-called sinkholes within the accumula-
its present pantropical distribution thereafter. The timing of man- tion, as well as in lacustrine and fluvial facies. The most common
gal expansion toward the polar regions may have differed in the vertebrates are crocodiles, tortoises, and mammals. At least 14
hemispheres; Nypa mangrove communities became established different orders of mammals are recorded as well as fish, amphib-
in New Zealand (Crouch and Visscher, 2003) and Tasmania ians, snakes, lizards, and birds (Franzen et al., 1993). Some
(Pole, 1996) prior to the thermal maximum, whereas mangroves component of the famous Messel deposits is also likely related
related to the genus Bruguiera and Ceriops are known first from to Eocene wetland inhabitants. Plant fossils in the Messel lake
the Eocene London Clay in southern England closer in time to deposit include swamp cypress (Taxodiaceae), water lilies (Nym-
the event (Chandler, 1951; Collinson, 1983). Most localities phaeaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), club mosses, and ferns (Schaal
are identified on the basis of fruits, seeds, and pollen of man- and Ziegler, 1992), all common Eocene wetland taxa.
grove taxa. In fact, the preservation and recognition of in situ In Thailand, claystone interbeds in late Eocene lignites
coastal mangrove paleoswamps is undoubtedly biased because have yielded gastropods, pelecypods, turtles, a crocodile, and
they occupy very narrow coastal habitats, tend to be non-peat an early primate, Siamopithecus (Udomkan et al., 2003). A
diverse fauna including primates is also known from lignites in
Hungary. In fact, Kordos and Begun (2002) suggest that great
apes in these wetlands may have migrated to Africa following
Miocene climate changes. Some hominoid primates continued
to occupy wetlands in the Oligocene of Africa. At the famous
Fayum deposits of Egypt, Aegyptopithecus and Propliopithecus
occur with a wide variety of mammals including anthracotheres,
arsinöitheres, proboscideans, basilosaurs, and sirenians; reptiles
including turtles, crocodiles, and the giant snake Gigantophis;
and avifauna including storks and herons. The famous vertebrate
fauna is associated with coastal mangrove and back-mangrove
swamps (Bown et al., 1982), as well as with freshwater marshes
and swamps interpreted as similar to modern Ugandan swamps
(Olson and Rasmussen, 1986).
Some of the vertebrates associated with these sites have been
interpreted as obligate wetland inhabitants similar to modern
Figure 20. Earliest occurrence of extant mangrove taxon based on data semiaquatic Hippopotamus, including the Eocene perissodactyls
compiled in Aaron et al. (1999). Various adaptations to saline wetland Amynodon and Metamynodon (Wall, 1998), the Eocene pantodont
conditions are shown for modern species of genera shown. Coryphodon (Ashley and Liutkus, 2002), the Eocene–Oligocene
ungulate Moeritherium (Carroll, 1988; Bown et al., 1982), and the The Presbyornithidae were a group of long-legged wading
Eocene–Pliocene artiodactyl ungulates of the Anthracotheriidae birds that may have originated in the latest Cretaceous and con-
(Carroll, 1988; Berger, 1998; Kron and Manning, 1998). The lat- tinued into the Tertiary. Presbyornis had the body of a flamingo
ter are a link to true hippopotamuses, which evolved in the Mio- and the head of a duck (Fig. 21; Feduccia, 1999). Mass death
cene (Carroll, 1988). Likewise, several large proboscideans also accumulations of Presbyornis associated with the Eocene Green
may have been adapted to middle Tertiary wetland habitats. The River shales indicate that these early waterfowl lived in large col-
Miocene elephants Ambelodon and Platybelodon both had broad onies, similar to modern wetland-inhabiting flamingoes (Olson
shovel tusks, commonly interpreted as an adaptation for feeding on and Feduccia, 1980). True flamingoes evolved in the Eocene
aquatic vegetation in marshes and submerged wetlands, although (Feduccia, 1996). A possible charadriiform shorebird has been
this assumption may be an oversimplification (Janis et al., 1998). identified from Eocene subtropical swamp sediments in China
All of these large, herbivorous mammals may have relied on wet- (Hou and Ericson, 2002). Long-legged wading birds, such as her-
lands for habitat and food and, in turn, had the potential to exert ons and storks (Ciconiidae), have a limited fossil record but can
dramatic influence on the wetlands they inhabited. be traced back to the late Eocene or Miocene (Feduccia, 1996;
Miller et al., 1998).
Aquatic Mammal Evolution in Wetlands Ducks (Anatidae), the largest group of modern waterfowl
and common inhabitants of wetlands around the world, are
During the Eocene, some terrestrial mammals evolved mor- known from the Oligocene from several places around the world
phologic changes that allowed them to become permanent occu- (Olson and Feduccia, 1980). Interestingly, seeds similar to those
pants of aquatic environments. This transition from terra firma to of modern duckweed (Lemna sp.), an aquatic plant favored by
a fully aquatic environment occurred within (or at least through) many extant duck species, also are known from the Oligocene to
wetlands. The Archaeocetes (ancient whales) had elongate the recent (Mai, 1985). Modern duck genera became dominant
mouths and probably had ecological roles similar to crocodiles
in coastal, riverine, and lacustrine habitats (including wetlands)
(Thewissen et al., 2001). The small whale Kutchicetus minimus
was found in Eocene lignites from India and is interpreted to
have inhabited backswamp environments (Bajpai and Thewissen,
2002). Likewise, sirenians (manatees, dugongs) are known from
Miocene amber-bearing marls of Puerto Rico (Iturralde-Vinent
and Hartstein, 1998) and the Oligocene Fayum deposits (Bown et
al., 1982). Extant sirenians inhabit estuaries, streams, and coastal
areas associated with aquatic and mangrove wetlands, where
their primary diet is sea grass (Domning et al., 1982). Since the
Eocene, they have played a unique role as large aquatic herbi-
vores. Eocene and Miocene sirenians were mostly restricted to
coastal riverine and estuarine aquatic wetlands (Domning, 1982).
Evolution through the Tertiary appears to have been driven by
the spread of sea grasses and the evolution of new aquatic macro-
phytes (Domning et al., 1982; Savage et al. 1994).
Birds in Wetlands
Although birds evolved in the Jurassic, transitional shore-

birds are not recognized until the Late Cretaceous (e.g., Yang et
al., 1994). The adaptive radiation of modern waterfowl lineages
did not begin until after the K-T extinction, during the Tertiary
radiation of birds (Feduccia, 1995, 1999). This radiation was con-
current with the spread of angiosperm-dominant wetlands and
mangrove wetlands, all habitats that are used by birds for food,
shelter, and breeding. The spread of aquatic wetlands was likely
of particular importance to the diversification of waterfowl, since Figure 21. Presbyornis, a wading bird, that lived in Cretaceous–Tertia-
aquatic plants are a major part of waterfowl diets. Approximately ry marshes, looks for food in an Eocene lacustrine marsh. Typha domi-
nates the lake margin. Marsh inhabitants in the Eocene Green River
one-third of extant North American bird species use wetlands as Formation included the alligator Procaimanoidea, the turtle Baptemys,
habitat and breeding grounds (Kroodsma, 1979; Mitsch and Gos- the alligator gar Lepisosteus, and the famous Knightia fish. Sycamores
selink, 2000; Stewart, 1996; Keddy, 2000). and palms occupy fringing forests.
elements in freshwater marshes by the Pliocene (Carroll, 1988; the Miocene and into the Pliocene is coincident with the spread
Feduccia, 1996, 1999). The adaptation of these various bird of rushes, sedges, and grasses into freshwater marshes. This par-
groups to wetlands introduced a new avian component to wet- allel expansion perhaps cemented the important wetland-habitat
land trophic systems. Recent studies have shown that increases in association that exists to this day.
waterfowl will cause increases in benthic detritus, macrophytes, Analyses of extant sedges in freshwater marshes indicate
and fish in inland lakes (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). It is likely that they use a C4 pathway for photosynthesis, in which CO2 is
that the diversification of birds into wetland habitats in the Creta- fixed into a four-carbon molecule (Jones, 1988; Keeley, 1998;
ceous and into the Tertiary caused similar changes through time. Ehleringer and Monson, 1993). Most plants use the C3 pathway
(CO2 fixed into a three-carbon molecule). Molecular phylogenies
Freshwater Grass, Reed, Rush, and Sedge Marshes and fossil evidence suggest that the C4 pathway has arisen in dif-
ferent families at different times, but the initial appearance of this
Modern freshwater marshes are dominated by a mosaic of physiology appears to have been post-Cretaceous (Ehleringer and
diverse emergent herbaceous taxa, with some of the most com- Monson, 1993; Kellogg, 2001) and in aquatic plants (Sage, 2001).
mon temperate members belonging to the grasses (Poaceae) such The C4 pathway has a physiological advantage when atmospheric
as Phragmites (reed grass), reeds (Typhaceae) such as Typha conditions consist of low CO2 pressures accompanied by warm,
(cattails), rushes (Juncaceae) like Juncus sp., and sedges (Cyper- dry climates. Although this would not seem to be an advantage
aceae) such as Scirpus (bullrush), Carex sp. and Cyperus sp. The to wetland plants, plants using the C4 pathway have increased
Cyperaceae alone includes more than 3500 species of grass-like nitrogen efficiency, which is a definite advantage in low-nutrient
herbs (Plunkett et al., 1995), many of which are common in wet- substrates such as those of oligotrophic wetlands (Jones, 1988;
lands. Some species of sedges, such as Cyperus papyrus (papyrus Ehleringer and Monson, 1993).
reeds), are highly productive wetland plants (Weller, 1994; Mitsch
and Gosselink, 2000). Unfortunately, because these monocotyle- Salt-water Grass, Rush, and Sedge Marshes
dons have no woody tissue, their preservation potential is limited
to fruits and seeds (van der Burgh and Zetter, 1998). Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on
Many extant wetland monocots are thought to have readapted Earth, and are common along tidally influenced coastlines except
to an emergent marsh habitat after the mid-Tertiary radiation of in the Tropics, where mangroves dominate most coastal wetlands.
grasses, but some freshwater monocot wetland taxa may extend Although numerous Paleozoic and early Mesozoic wetland depos-
back to the Cretaceous. Typha (Fig. 21) and partially synonymous its have been interpreted as possible salt marshes, the inference is
Cyperacites are reported from the Late Cretaceous (Tidwell, often based on the juxtaposition of overlying transgressive marine
1975; Muller, 1984; Mai, 1985; Bremer, 2000) but are not com- deposits, rather than on morphological features of the fossil flora
mon floristic components until the Paleogene (MacGinitie, 1969; or paleosols. That said, modern salt marshes are dominated by
Machin, 1971; Muller, 1984; Collinson and Hooker, 1987; Col- grasses, particularly cordgrass (Spartina sp.), rushes (Juncus sp.),
linson, 2002). Both have aerenchyma in their root tissues, com- and sedges (Carex sp.), such that the evolution of these wetland
monly found in plants from mostly wet substrates. Seeds similar habitats postdates the evolution of angiosperms.
to those of the modern rush, Juncus sp., are reported from the The oldest of the extant salt-marsh families is the Juncaceae
upper Eocene/lower Oligocene (Collinson, 1983; Collinson et al., (rushes), which appears at least by the middle Eocene, similar
1993) and from the Miocene of Europe (Mai, 1985). Most extant to the Cyperaceae (sedges) (Graham, 1999; Bremer, 2000). As
members of the family are freshwater species. Sedges (Cypera- mentioned previously, most extant members of both families are
ceae) occupy diverse habitats today and are known from Eocene freshwater species. Thus, it is likely that the evolution of rushes
pollen and seed remains (Muller, 1984; Collinson and Hooker, and sedges with salt tolerance postdates the evolution of the fami-
1987; Cross and Phillips, 1990; Bremer, 2000; Collinson, 2000). lies as a whole. Again, analyses of the photosynthetic pathways
Wetland sedges, such as fossil Phragmites (Thomasson, 1986), of saline marsh plants provide insight into the evolution of salt
a common constituent of European “reedswamps” and Scirpus tolerance in emergent marsh monocots in lieu of fossil evidence.
(Van der Burgh and Zetter, 1998), are known from the latest Oli- In many coastal and inland saline wetlands, C4 plants replace
gocene, and sedges were occupying peat mires in Australia by the C3 plants as salinity increases (Ehleringer and Monson, 1993).
late Oligocene or early Miocene (Blackburn and Sluiter, 1994), The C4 pathway has better water-use efficiency than the C3 path-
although much of the diversification of the Cyperaceae appears to way (Jones, 1988; Keeley, 1998). Although water-use efficiency
be post-Miocene (Potts and Behrensmeyer, 1992). may not be important in freshwater marshes (except for vernal
An important aspect of the spread of grass, reed, and rush pools and prairie potholes), it is critical in saline environments
marshes during the drying climates at the end of the Tertiary is (Ehleringer and Monson, 1993). The C4 pathway appears to have
that these wetlands would have been the only sources of water evolved multiple times in monocots since the Cretaceous, but the
and moist habitat in the vast grasslands that dominated many earliest definite C4 macrofossils are from the Miocene (Kellogg,
continental interiors, similar to vernal ponds and prairie potholes 2001). Extant C4-pathway saline grasses (Poaceae), such as salt
today. The diversification of the Anatidae (ducks) beginning in grass (Distichlis sp.) and cordgrass (Spartina sp.), do not have
an extensive fossil record and may postdate the Miocene. It is Giant Wetland Mammals
unlikely that there was significant competition from preexisting
flora in the niche now occupied by halophytes such as Spartina. High rates of biomass production and recycling in wetlands
This is important to consider in terms of paleoecology, because it support trophic tiers of abundant animals, albeit each of relatively
may indicate that many of the functions provided by extant salt- low species diversity. The abundance of food resources in this
water marshes (both coastal marine and inland) were nonexistent setting permitted extraordinarily large animals to inhabit these
(or at least diminished) earlier. environments. In fact, the largest rodent of all time was a wet-
land inhabitant. Phoberomys pattersoni was more than ten times
TERTIARY-QUATERNARY larger then the largest living rodent, the capybara, and inhabited
late Miocene freshwater paludal marshes of Venezuela. Phobero-
Sphagnum-Mire Complexes mys was semiaquatic or foraged in water on wetland grasses, as
do extant capybaras (Sánchez-Villagra et al., 2003).
The development of cold climate in the Pliocene led to pine Beavers belong to the family Castoridae, which appears to
dominance of northern conifer forests and to development of low- have originated in North America during the Oligocene (Kur-
land tundra, forest tundra, and permafrost (Agar and White, 1997). ten and Anderson, 1980; Carroll, 1988). Beavers are not only
Two of the world’s largest modern wetlands are the high-latitude wetland inhabitants, but also creators of wetland habitat, so-
mire complexes of the West Siberian and Hudson Bay lowlands. called natural wetland engineers (Jones et al., 1994). Wetlands
Northern-latitude mires are dominated by the peat moss, Sphagnum and ponds created by beavers (Fig. 22) are important habitats
sp., and co-inhabited by a wide variety of plants, including conifers for amphibians, mammals, and birds (Keddy, 2000). The oldest
such as black spruce (Picea mariana) and tamarack (Larix laric- beaver, Dipoides, is known from the late Neogene (Pliocene)
ina), woody angiosperms such as birch (Betula), and groundcover of Eurasia and North America. Fossil beaver dams in the Plio-
monocotyledons and dicotyledons such as heaths, sedges, and
pitcher plants (Botch and Masing, 1983; Zoltai and Pollett, 1983).
Precursors of Sphagnum, the Protosphagnales, are reported
from the Permian of Russia (Neiburg, 1958), and spores of Sphag-
num are recorded from Jurassic coals of China (Miao et al., 1989),
Cretaceous coals of Alaska (Hickey and Doyle, 1997), and Ter-
tiary coals of North America and Europe (Steere, 1946; Cross and
Phillips, 1990). The point at which Sphagnum began to dominate
oligotrophic mires is uncertain, although it appears to postdate the
late Neogene. Obviously, the extent of current Sphagnum-domi-
nated wetlands is related to the last Pleistocene glacial retreat. In
fact, there is a repetitive expansion and contraction of the northern-
latitude coniferous forests (and associated wetlands) with each ice
advance and retreat (Agar and White, 1997). In some cases, these
wetlands acted as refugia for both flora and fauna during intergla-
cial periods (Speight and Blackith, 1983). Access to continuous
habitat across latitudinal gradients was a strong selective criterion
in sorting which elements of the wetland flora and fauna survived
late Cenozoic climate changes (Potts and Behrensmeyer, 1998).
Sphagnum almost certainly was preadapted to oligotrophic
habitats, with the development of extensive aerenchymatous tis-
sues allowing it to grow in low-oxygen environments. This ana-
tomical feature is related to the plant’s ability to leak oxygen
through its roots to create a local aerobic environment. Its com-
pact growth habit, overlapping leaves, and rolled branch leaves
enhance water retention (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). Mod-
ern Sphagnum has the ability to acidify its surroundings, which
may aid in retarding bacterial decomposition, allowing peat to Figure 22. Mastodons along the shore of a Pleistocene beaver pond in
accumulate even in an environment of low primary productivity a boreal fen. The pond is also home to turtles, ducks, and other birds.
(Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000). Additionally, acidity helps alter Aquatic plants include water lilies (lower left) and Potamogeton sp.
(pond weed) (lower right). Sedges (Carex sp.) and mosses are common.
mineral substrates on which the peat mosses accumulate, creat- The fen is bordered by a black spruce (Picea mariana) swamp, with
ing and maintaining a clay-rich, impermeable layer that further tamarack (Larix laricina), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and a few decid-
promotes waterlogging and peat accumulation. uous trees and shrubs such as oak (Quercus sp.) and willow (Salix sp.).
cene indicate that dam construction was an early part of this wooden lances, planks and stakes, knotted reeds, and animal
animal’s behavior (Tedford and Harington, 2003). During the hides have been recovered from the site, as well as blood hemo-
Pleistocene, the giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) reached globin from a tool (Tuross and Dillehay, 1995). Not only was
lengths of 2.5 m in North America. Remains of ice age giant the preservation of this site reliant upon wetland chemistry, but
beavers have been preserved in numerous Eurasian Pleistocene it also appears that bogs and freshwater and salt-water marshes
peats and pond-paludal wetland deposits (Kurten and Ander- provided construction material and food for the Monte Verde
son, 1980; Hansen, 1996). culture (Dillehay, 1989). Likewise, in North America, lacustrine
Many skeletons of ice age mammals, including mammoths, aquatic wetlands preserved mastodon intestines filled with sand
mastodons, ground sloths, and wooly rhinoceroses, have been and gravel, indicating that prehistoric humans filled these organs
excavated from fluvial, paludal, and peat permafrost in the north- as “clastic anchors” to keep the bodies on the bottoms of peaty,
ern high latitudes. Some of these finds have included soft-part anoxic ponds for winter meat storage (Fisher, 1995).
preservation of hair, skin, and internal organs (e.g., Lister and The development of modern civilizations around the Fertile
Bahn, 1994). Numerous mastodons (Fig. 22) also have been Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, as well as the Nile
found trapped in peat and wetland-fringing pond deposits of Valley, resulted from their location along rivers with fertile flood
eastern North America (Eiseley, 1945; Miller and Nester, this plains, marshes, and riparian wetlands. Aside from food and water
volume). Indeed, the first mastodons to be described were found available within these ecosystems, wetland plants provided the
at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, along with mammoths, bison, and Egyptians with papyrus (Cyperus papyrus). The word “paper”
other mammalian taxa. The Big Bone fauna is interpreted as hav- is derived from papyrus, and Egyptians began to use this marsh
ing accumulated in a “bog” fed by a salt-and-mineral spring (e.g., plant to make paper by 2000 B.C. Many of the classic writings of
Jillson, 1968), although a lacustrine marsh (non-peat producing) ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome were inscribed on the smashed
may be a more appropriate term. These wetland bones were used stem piths of these plants. At the same time that paper was being
by Cuvier in the late 1700s and early 1800s to argue for the idea made from wetland plants in Egypt, man-made wetlands were
of extinction (Rudwick, 1997; Semonin, 2000). being created to grow rice in lowland deltas and flood plains in
Southeast Asia.
QUATERNARY One of the most interesting wetland-associated anthropo-
logical finds is the “bog bodies” of northern Europe (Glob, 1965;
Wetland Archeology Menon, 1997) and Florida (Doran et al., 1986). These remains
date back to 8000 B.C. and are famous because they are mum-
Wetlands have had a profound effect on human civilization mified with excellent soft-tissue preservation. Additionally, they
and, of course, humans have dramatically influenced wetlands; provide information about social behavior as indicated by a
unfortunately, in modern times the influence mostly has been wide range of burial mechanisms, including ritual burial, acci-
detrimental. Wetlands were historically used as sources for dental death, and murder (executions, sacrifices). Possibly the
construction materials, fuels, fishing materials (traps, poisons, most unusual example of soft-tissue preservation is the Middle
dyes), iron, textiles, dyes for cloth, tannin for leather preserva- Archaic (8000-year-old) brain tissues and DNA recovered from
tion, compost, sugar, vinegar, honey, fermented drinks, medi- human remains in a pond peat from Windover, Florida (Doran
cines, contraceptives, aphrodisiacs, waxes, incense, glues, and et al., 1986). At Windover, Native Americans buried their dead
as a food resource, through fishing, hunting, and aquaculture underwater on the bottom of a pond. Over time, lacustrine peat
(Bacon, 1997). covered the bodies, promoting exceptional preservation.
Shaped stone tools found with the bones of straight-tusked
elephants and other mammals in wetland clays of Torralba and Human Impacts on Wetlands
Ambrona, Spain, may represent early hominid butchery or scav-
enging sites on the margins of wetlands (Klein, 1987: Nicholas, Our civilization’s expansion has come at the expense of
1998). By the late Pleistocene, a hunting-and-gathering lifestyle wetland habitats. More than 70% of the world’s population
was firmly established among humans, and several archaeo- inhabits coastal areas, and increased population growth in the
logical sites in Europe indicate that wetlands were an important past several hundred years has resulted in a loss of as much
resource base (Nicholas, 1998). Among the European sites are as 50% percent of the world’s wetlands (Keddy, 2000). This
the oldest known hunting spears, found with butchered remains loss has resulted in the deterioration of many wetland func-
of horses, from a coal mine in Schöningen, Germany (Dennell, tions, such as contributions to wildlife habitat, biodiversity,
1997; Thieme, 1997). Preservation of the 400,000-year-old spears natural water quality improvement, natural flood mitigation
was aided by tannic acids from the overlying peat. through water storage, as well as shore and bank stabilization
At Monte Verde, Chile, the oldest human occupation site in (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000; Keddy, 2000). Bacon (1997)
the Americas is situated beneath a water-saturated reed-and-shrub noted that because of their variability, geographic distribution,
bog that covered the site with a layer of peat, isolating the mate- and biological richness, wetlands contain a significant amount
rial from oxygen and deterioration. Mastodon bones and meat, of the world’s biodiversity, and thereby a large pool of genetic
resources. Loss of wetland habitats may endanger the future in almost all terrestrial environments including wetland habi-
genetic resources of plants and animals. The fossil record is our tats. Additionally, angiosperm diversification resulted in novel
best source of baseline data from which to assess the long-term morphologies that permitted the exploitation of habitats on the
impacts of environmental perturbations on global ecology and margins of existing wetlands. Angiosperm expansion allowed
biodiversity. Through better understanding of the fossil record for the development of extensive fresh and saline floating and
and the evolution of wetland types, wetland functions, and wet- submerged communities, as well as tidal-estuarine salt marsh
land interactions with other ecosystems, we can better under- and mangrove-forest wetlands fringing today’s coastal zones.
stand and possibly mitigate detrimental influences on wetlands These wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on
and associated ecosystems. the planet and are tied intricately to food webs in surrounding
communities. The evolution of extant wetland groups, such as
SUMMARY frogs, salamanders, turtles, and crocodiles occurred during the
mid-Mesozoic; genera from these groups would be among the
Modern wetlands are a diverse array of habitats with few terrestrial vertebrate survivors of the K-T extinction, illus-
equally diverse floral and faunal associations, controlled by a trating the value of wetlands as refugia. Mid- to late Mesozoic
host of interacting factors. Most of the functions recognized in wetlands were also important faunal traps for early mammals
extant wetlands originated in the Paleozoic. At some times in and dinosaurs, including some of the largest herbivores and
the past, certain functions have played a far more significant carnivores in earth history. Amber from Mesozoic and Tertiary
role than they do today, for example, in natural carbon seques- wetlands provides unique insight into the radiation of insects
tration or the natural alteration of the world’s biogeochemical that accompanied the radiation of angiosperms.
and hydrological cycles. The Cenozoic radiation of angiosperms allowed for abun-
The oldest wetlands were similar in stature to moss-lichen dant floral partitioning and the development of a wide array of
communities but were non-peat-accumulating. Floral adapta- specialized subcommunities within wetland ecosystems. This
tions and evolution led to the first marshes, swamps, fens, and, radiation was coeval with the radiations of mammals and birds,
eventually, forested mires in the Devonian. The diversification both of which developed specialized niches within wetland eco-
of wetland habitats profoundly influenced the terrestrialization systems. The development of modern grass- and herb-dominant
of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, as well as sediment marshes accompanied mid-Cenozoic cooling and likely was a
stabilization and global biogeochemical cycles. By the Car- dramatic influence on extant waterfowl-marsh associations. By
boniferous, wetlands dominated by trees and other plants were the late Cenozoic, most modern biomes had formed including
widespread and included the largest tropical mires in earth his- extensive high-latitude Sphagnum-dominated mire systems, the
tory. The spread of mires from the late Devonian to the Carbon- most extensive wetlands in the world today. The late Cenozoic
iferous increased the importance of wetlands as global carbon has also witnessed the expansion of our own species along the
sinks. Within these environments, the flora and fauna greatly margins of wetlands, with early civilization utilizing a wide
diversified through time. Most of the Paleozoic terrestrial fos- array of wetland flora and fauna for food and materials. The
sil record comes from these Carboniferous environments. Dur- expansion of civilization resulted in the infilling and draining
ing the Permian, floral adaptations to cooler climates allowed of global wetlands. Only recently have the repercussions of
for the development of the first high-latitude mires, latitudinal wetland loss been realized, with increasing attempts to restore
zonation of wetland floras, and a switch from mires dominated and protect these vital parts of our global ecosystem. As pub-
by lower vascular plants to those dominated by gymnosperms. lic awareness of the importance of wetlands continues to grow,
Large, semiaquatic herbivores and carnivores also made their we will need to understand better how these systems respond
first appearances in Permo-Carboniferous wetlands. Changes in to perturbations, how they recover from major environmental
climate and tectonics at the close of the Paleozoic resulted in disruptions, and how wetland biotas interact with those of sur-
dramatic upheavals within wetland habitats, leading to major rounding environments. The fossil record is our best source of
disruptions of many wetland ecosystems. Decrease in wetland information on these concerns, and it will become increasingly
area at the end of the Permian likely was accompanied by a important as the details of ancient wetlands and the vagaries of
significant decrease in wetland functions. their dynamics are investigated and clarified.
Recovery in the Mesozoic was slow, with the reconstitu-
tion of wetlands ultimately by a different “framework” vegeta- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
tion than that of similar habitats in the late Paleozoic. During
the Mesozoic, continental movements resulted in the physical The authors thank the reviewers, S.L. Wing and G.W. Roth-
separation of Northern and Southern Hemisphere landmasses, well for their helpful comments and suggestions. Additionally,
with resultant evolution of distinct wetland floras in these areas, C.F. Eble, A.C. Scott, S. Ash, and T.A. Moore are acknowl-
particularly visible among newly evolved conifer groups; some edged for sharing their expertise during the preparation of this
of these differences persist to this day. In the latter part of the manuscript. Thanks also to C. Rullo, Kentucky Geological Sur-
Mesozoic, angiosperm evolution led to dramatic floristic changes vey, who helped with final figure preparation.
Basinger, J.F., Greenwood, D.G., and Sweda, T., 1994, Early Tertiary vegeta-
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Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history

Article in Special Paper of the Geological Society of America · January 2006

Stephen Greb William Dimichele

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Evolution and importance of wetlands in earth history

variety of specialized wetland subcommunities. During the Tertiary, the spread of

Keywords: paleobotany, paleoecology, paleoflora, earth history, wetlands, coal,

INTRODUCTION a starting point for discussion of paleowetlands. The terms are

Types of Wetlands Wetland Functions

SILURIAN problematic in its application to Cooksonia-dominated wetlands.

LATE SILURIAN–EARLY DEVONIAN DEVONIAN

Arthropod Terrestrialization in Wetlands The Spread of Wetlands

ans appear to have inhabited the same environments (Fig. 7A),

tisols or entisols), and in situ tree stumps within mineral substrates

Giant Arthropods in Wetlands depicted flying insect in Carboniferous illustrations is Meganeura,

Figure 10. Permian paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

the Permian, (and Late Carboniferous) large, semi-aquatic laby-

Climatic Changes and Shrinking Wetlands

At the same time that the northern and southern continents

TRIASSIC Parts of the famous Petrified Forest of the Chinle Formation

Figure 12. Triassic paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

Figure 14. Jurassic paleogeography and paleoclimates showing loca-

Pseudofrenelopsis and related taxa are common components of

Aquatic Ferns in Wetlands Aquatic Angiosperms in Wetlands

Figure 17. Dinosaurs in a Euramerican

CRETACEOUS–TERTIARY Aldrovandra is recognized in the Oligocene (Collinson et al.,

Thick Peats and Peatland Successions

The Tertiary represents the third major interval during which

Although birds evolved in the Jurassic, transitional shore-

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