| Spores and pollen are utilized throughout the earth sciences for reconstructing paleoclimates, determining ages of rock units, and energy resources exploration. Pollen and spores are carried by the wind, water, or by insects from one plant to another during the process of pollination. Pollen and spores were deposited into the sediments of the Florissant Formation and are separated by chemicals from rocks, stained, and mounted on slides for study. Most pollen from the Florissant Formation is from wind-pollinated plants like pines, elm, beech and walnut trees. Insect-pollinated plants produce far less pollen which is in turn carried only by specific insects. Pollinating insects also co-evolved with certain types of plants and are attracted to only those specific plants, so insect-dispersed pollen is less likely to reach a lake than wind-dispersed pollen. This disparity between the two methods of pollination is easily seen in the Florissant Formation. Naming Pollen & Spores
Throughout these pages, you will notice the words "palynomorph name" after each pollen or spore. These are morphological names, because fossil pollen and spores are typically not found attached to fossil leaves or fruits. In the modern world, it's easy to go up to a plant and collect pollen from the it, thus knowing exactly what plant is associated with that pollen or spore. But often scientists are left with assigning morphological names and giving "probabilities" that a particular pollen or spore is associated with a specific plant. Here we have included identifications from Wingate and Nichols, 2001 that are likely to have been particular fossil types, and in some rare cases actually found associated with particular plant megafossils. Photographs are by Hugh Wingate, provided courtesy of Doug Nichols of the united States Geological Survey.
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