Faculty

Thomas N. Taylor - Paleobiology
Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor
Curator of Paleobotany - Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
Courtesy Professor, Department of Geology
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Phone: (785) 864-5501; (785) 864-3625
Fax: (785) 864-5860

Classes Taught

Biol. 802 - The Art of Becoming a Professional Scientist
Biol. 640 - Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants
Biol. 641 - Laboratory in Paleobotany

Awards and Honors

Member - National Academy of Sciences
Member - National Science Board (2006-2012)
Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor
Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists
Higuchi Research Achievement Award in the Basic Sciences in Kansas
Distinguished Scholar Award - Ohio State University

Area of Interest and Research

• Paleobiology and paleoecology of Antarctic fossil biotas
• Biology and interactions of fossil fungi
• Symbioses
• Structure and function in fossil plants
• Reproductive biology in early land plants
• Origin and evolution of land plants
• Living and fossil pollen, spores, and cuticle ultrastructure
• Interactions of fossil plants and animals
• Pollen/stigma interactions
• Angiosperm origins

Representative Publications

2006     E.J. Hermsen, T.N. Taylor, and E.L. Taylor. Voltzian pollen cone from the
            Middle Triassic of Antarctica. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. (in press)

2006     B.J. Axsmith, E.L. Taylor, and T.N. Taylor. The “New Approach to
            Corystospermales” and the Antarctic Fossil Record: A Critique.
            Ameghiniana. (in press)

2006     E.L. Taylor, T.N. Taylor, H. Kerp, and E.J. Hermsen. The Mesozoic seed ferns:
            old paradigms, new discoveries. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 133: 62-82.

2006     M. Krings, S.D. Klavins, T.N. Taylor, E.L. Taylor, R. Serbet, and H. Kerp. Frond
            architecture of Odontopteris brardii (Pteridospermopsida, ? Medullosales): new
            evidence from the Upper Pennsylvania of Missouri, U.S.A. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 133: 33-45.

2006     N. Dotzler, M. Krings, T.N. Taylor,and R. Agerer. Germination shields in
            Scuttellospora (Glomeromycota: Diversisporales, Gigasporaceae) in the 400
            million-year-old Rhynie chert. Mycol. Progress 5: 178-184.

2006     T.N. Taylor, M. Krings, and H. Kerp. Hassiella monospora nov. gen. et. sp., a
            microfungus from the 400 million year old Rhynie chert. Mycol. Research 110: 628-632.

2006     E.J. Hermsen, T.N. Taylor, E.L. Taylor, and D.W. Stevenson. Cataphylls of the
            Triassic cycad Antarcticycas schopfii and new insights into cycad evolution. Amer. J.
            Bot. 93: 724-738.

2006     M. Krings, A. Grewing, S.D. Klavins, and T.N. Taylor. (2005) Karinopteris and Mariopteris:
            morphology, Wuchsform und Ökologie, In: A. Hendricks (Ed.), Als Hagen am Äquator lag.
            Die Fossilien der Ziegeleigrube Hagen-Vorhalle, pp. 203-213, Munster, Verlag Sigma Druck.

2005     T.N. Taylor and M. Krings. Fossil microorganisms and land plants: associations and
            interactions. Symbiosis 40: 119-135.           

2005     T.N. Taylor, H. Hass, H. Kerp, M. Krings and R. Hanlin. Perithecial ascomycetes from the
            400 million year old Rhynie chert: an example of ancestral polymorphism.
            Mycologia 97: 269-285.

2005     T.N. Taylor, H. Kerp, and H. Hass. Life history biology of early land plants: deciphering the
            gametophyte phase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102: 5892-5897.

2005     X. Yuan, S. Xiao, and T.N. Taylor. Lichen-like symbiosis 600 Million years ago. Science 308:
            1017-1020.

2005     M. Krings, A. Grewing, T.N. Taylor, H. Kerp, and J. Galtier. Lageniastrum macrosporae (fossil
            Volvocales, Lageniastraceae, nov. fam.,), an endophyte in Carboniferous megaspores.
            Géobios. 38: 451-465.

2005     M. Krings, S.D. Klavins, W.A. DiMichele, H. Kerp, T.N. Taylor. Epidermal anatomy of Glenopteris
            splendens Sellards nov. emend., an enigmatic seed plant from the Lower Permian of Kansas
            (U.S.A.). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 136: 159-180.

2005     T.N. Taylor and M. Krings. Fungi and Lichens. In: R.C. Selley, L.R.M. Cocks and I.R. Plimer.
            (Encyclopedia of Geology, vol. 2, pp. 436-443, Amsterdam, Elsevier Science, Ltd.

2005     T.N. Taylor, M. Krings, S.D. Klavins. Protoascon missouriensis, a complex fossil microfungus
            revisited. Mycologia 97: 725-729.

2005     S.D. Klavins, D.W. Kellogg, M. Krings, E.L. Taylor, and T.N. Taylor. Coprolites in a middle
            Triassic cycad pollen cone: evidence for insect pollination in early cycads? Evol. Ecol. Res. 7:
            479-488.

Current and Recent graduate students

Allison S. Doores – current                                                                                                                                        
Andrew B. Schwendermann – current
Juan Massini-Garcia – PhD program at Southern Methodist University
Charlie J. Phipps – State University of New York- Institute of Technology
Brian J. Axsmith – Southern Alabama University

Current and Recent Postdoctoral Fellows

Elizabeth J. Hermsen – current
Sharon D. Klavins – University of Wisconsin, Plattsville
Michael Krings - Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläeontologie und Geologie, Munich, Germany