The earliest vascular terrestrial plants and polymorphs of the Silurian and Lower Devonian periods in Barrandien, Czech Republic

The project focuses on the documentation and interpretation of the earliest vascular plants in the Barrandien region. The research includes the recently discovered oldest plant, Cooksonia, considered to be the oldest vascular plant in the world (425-427 mil years old, of the Motol (Wenclock) formation). New materials are available for detailed descriptions and interpretations, including new macroremains of Silurian and Devonian plants. These macroremains will be studied in the context of their paleoenvironment, based on a detailed micropaleontological research.
The project objective is a detailed research and interpretation of the first vascular plants of the Silurian and Devonian periods in Barrandien. The research of and other micropaleontological material as a tool for understanding the evolution of Silurian and Devonian terrestrial ecosystems.

Project name: The oldest vascular terrestrial plants and polymorphs of the Silurian and Lower Devonian periods in Barrandien, Czech Republic
Code: 17-10233S
Duration: 2017–2019
Agency: Czech Science Foundation
Project type: consortial (NM as a secondary investigator)
NM’s investigator: RNDr. Jiří Kvaček, CSc.
Other participants: Institute of Geology of the CAS (RNDr. Jiří Bek, DSc.), Czech Geology Survey (Mgr. Petra Tonarová, Ph.D.), Museum of West Bohemia in Pilsen (RNDr. Josef Pšenička, Ph.D.)

Anticipated results/outputs:
Expert and popularising articles:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-018-0140-y
https://vesmir.cz/cz/on-line-clanky/2018/04/ceska-zkamenelina-prepisuje-vnimani-dejin-2.html
https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/domaci/nejstarsi-rostlina-sveta-lezela-150-let-zapomenuta-ve-sklepe/r~eeeac39a4ed511e8ac3d0cc47ab5f122/?redirected=1535535910
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/24/spore-heroes-unlocking-life-cycle-secrets-earliest-land-plants