Palynology is the scientific study of pollen, spores, and other acid-resistant organic-walled microfossils (palynomorphs), encompassing both living and fossil material. It integrates microscopy, organic geochemistry, and statistical analysis to characterize assemblages of pollen, spores, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, and related particulate matter typically sized between ~5–500 µm. In the natural sciences, palynology is used for reconstructing past vegetation and climate, correlating and dating sedimentary sequences, investigating depositional environments and biostratigraphy, and assessing organic matter sources and thermal maturity in petroleum systems, as well as for tracking dispersal and transport processes of particulate biological material in modern ecosystems.
Many large herbivores that once roamed modern-day Panama have declined or died out—including the 6-meter-long giant ground sloth and elephant-related creatures called Cuvieronius. New research suggests that introducing large ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
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232
For over 20 million years, the landscape of Europe has been a tree-rich mosaic of grasslands, scrubs and more or less open woodlands with an abundance of wildflowers. This is the conclusion of a new and comprehensive study ...
Ecology
Mar 2, 2026
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How many fossils does it take to accurately train an image-based AI algorithm? According to a new study co-authored by Bruce MacFadden, UF Distinguished Professor Emeritus and retired curator of vertebrate paleontology at ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 25, 2026
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124
Have you ever seen a hibiscus flower? Although its petals have a range of colors, what makes the trumpet-shaped flower more beautiful is the central stalk, which houses the anthers that produce pollen grains. Powdery in structure, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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23
Artificial light at night extends pollen season and increases allergen exposure in Northeastern United States cities. Lin Meng and colleagues analyzed 12 years of pollen data from 12 monitoring stations across the Northeastern ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 20, 2026
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16
A team of researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is digitizing images of pollen from more than 18,000 plant species from the tropics. The work is published in the journal PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET.
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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94
Northern Australia's annual monsoon season brings relief to drought-stricken lands and revitalizes crops and livestock for farmers. But a study of 150,000 years of climate records shows that the monsoon is likely to intensify—triggering ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 9, 2025
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27
Chinese scientists have discovered that fragile swamp forests in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region suddenly collapsed approximately 2,100 years ago (2.1 ka)—with human activity as the cause.
Earth Sciences
Apr 23, 2025
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