From Jamie Boyer, Ph.D.: Welcome to the Paleobotany and Plant Evolution website, where we explore Earth’s deep past through the lens of algae, bacteria, fungi, and plants, and other foundational life forms. While most stories of evolution highlight the rise and fall of animals, from the mighty dinosaurs to the woolly mammoths, this site turns the focus toward the organisms that shaped the planet long before and long after those creatures vanished.

Here, you’ll discover how photosynthetic and decomposing organisms have driven life’s great transformations. Photosynthesis has always been the foundation of food webs, just as decomposers have kept ecosystems balanced by recycling nutrients back into the environment. These processes powered ancient worlds just as they do today, making autotrophs and decomposers key to understanding Earth’s changing landscapes through time.

Studying these life forms also offers a clearer view of how evolution truly works. Since algae, bacteria, fungi, and plants aren't perceived to have desires, people are more likely to understand and accept the mechanisms of evolution as described by scientists, and without anthropomorphism...

So, as you explore the pages ahead, you’ll find that these seemingly quiet organisms tell some of the most dynamic stories in Earth’s evolutionary history. And once you begin to look closely, you’ll see just how endlessly fascinating the world of ancient plants and fungi can be.