Paleobotany is the branch of plant sciences that investigates fossil plants and plant-related remains to reconstruct past floras, ecosystems, and environmental conditions through geological time. It integrates methods from stratigraphy, sedimentology, systematics, and morphology to analyze compression fossils, permineralizations, mummifications, palynomorphs, and phytoliths. Paleobotanists use comparative morphology and, where possible, phylogenetic frameworks to infer evolutionary relationships, diversification patterns, and major transitions in plant history, such as the origin of vascular tissues, seeds, and angiosperms. The discipline also provides quantitative and qualitative proxies for paleoclimate, paleoecology, and biogeographic reconstructions, informing models of Earth system evolution and long-term biosphere–geosphere interactions.
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