Welcome!

My name is Michael D'Antonio, and I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. My research aims to reconstruct the biology and relationships of extinct plants through a combination of field work, museum specimen work, and insights from the biology of living plants. To do this I use advanced imaging and analytical techniques including X-ray micro-CT scanning, alongside traditional techniques such as optical microscopy and photography. I also research the co-evolution of land plants and the long-term carbon cycle.  My current projects include reconstructing the 3D morphology and systematics of enigmatic plants from Mazon Creek in Illinois and Wuda Tuff in Inner Mongolia, modeling plant development and physiology in the fossil record, and modeling the long-term effects of plant biology on Phanerozoic climate, atmospheric chemistry, and nutrient cycles.