Three-dimensionally preserved conifer twig of the genus Cassinisia from the Middle Permian of the Southern Alps, Italy

The gymnosperms, or flowerless seed plants, are a group of plants which first appeared in the latest Devonian. The conifers are the most widespread recent representatives. Apart from the now still occurring groups and families, a number of extinct groups and families are known. These include, e.g. the pteridosperms, plants with a fern-like growth habit which reproduced with true seeds. Before the first appearance of the flowering plants, or angiosperms, some 110 million years ago the gymnosperms were often dominant elements of the flora.

Our research principally focuses on the gymnosperms from the Upper Carboniferous and Permian. During this time the flora showed a strong diversification, not only in a systematical sense but also ecologically. Several groups first appeared, e.g., the conifers, the ginkgophytes and the cycads, while others showed a rapid evolution. Research in Münster concentrates on the earliest conifers and the pteridosperms. Important aspects are the establishment of natural relationships between the individual taxa and their ecology and functional morphology.