Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeography), and the evolutionary history of plants, with a bearing upon the evolution of life in general. A synonym is paleophytology. It is a component of paleontology and paleobiology. The prefix palaeo- means "ancient, old", and is derived from the Greek adjective παλαιός, palaios. Paleobotany includes the study of terrestrial plant fossils, as well as the study of prehistoric marine photoautotrophs, such as photosynthetic algae, seaweeds or kelp. A closely related field is palynology, which is the study of fossilized and extant spores and pollen.
Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian, was a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figures in 20th century plant evolution and systematics and biogeography. His other interests included morphology of flowering plants, paleobotany, and the flora of the Caucasus. He was one of the most influential taxonomists of the latter twentieth century.
Edward Wilber Berry was an American paleontologist and botanist; the principal focus of his research was paleobotany.
Birbal Sahni FRS was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany at Lucknow in 1946. His major contributions were in the study of the fossil plants of India and in plant evolution. He was also involved in the establishment of Indian science education and served as the President of the National Academy of Sciences, India and as an Honorary President of the International Botanical Congress, Stockholm.
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel was a Dutch botanist, whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies.
Mohan Agashe is an Indian psychiatrist and actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 in theatre.
Wilhelm Philippe Schimper was an Alsatian botanist with French, later German citizenship. He was born in Dossenheim-sur-Zinsel, but spent his youth in Offwiller, a village at the foot of the Vosges mountain range in Alsace. He was the father of botanist Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper (1856–1901), and a cousin to naturalist Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803–1867) and botanist Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper (1804–1878).
Daniel Isaac Axelrod was a leading twentieth-century paleoecologist specializing in Tertiary Cordilleran floras, in particular correlating fossil evidence of specific floras with climate change indicators.
Chester Arthur Arnold was an American paleobotanist, born June 25, 1901 in Leeton, Missouri and died on 19 November 1977.
Shyamala "Shya" Chitaley was an Indian American Paleobotanist who had a nearly 60-year career of teaching and research in both the United States and India. She was the founder and first curator of the paleobotany department at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, winner of the 2010 Botanical Society of America Award for Contributions to Paleobotany, and author of approximately 150 publications.
Eleanor Mary Reid (1860–1953) was a British palaeobotanist. Throughout her life she worked closely with her husband, Clement Reid, a trained botanist and geologist, and later worked alongside Marjorie Chandler.
Dnyaneshwar Agashe was an Indian businessman, cricketer, cricket administrator and philanthropist. He is best remembered for founding the Suvarna Sahakari Bank in 1969, and the scandal following the bank's alleged scam case in 2008. He played first-class cricket for Maharashtra between 1962 and 1968, and served as managing director of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate from 1986 to 1996. He was twice elected vice president of Board of Control for Cricket in India, serving his second and final term from 1995 to 1999.
Walther Ulrich Eduard Friedrich Gothan was a German paleobotanist, known for his studies of Carboniferous flora.
Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian, popularly known as CVS, was an Indian mycologist, taxonomist and plant pathologist, known for his work on the classification of Fungi imperfecti, a group of fungi classified separately due to lack of specific taxonomic characteristics. He authored one monograph, Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae and three books, Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology, Moulds, Mushrooms and Men and Soil microfungi of Israel, besides several articles published in peer reviewed journals. He was a recipient of many honours including the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Janaki Ammal National Award of the Government of India and seven species of fungi have been named after him. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1965, for his contributions to biological sciences.
Arun Kumar Sharma, popularly known as AKS, was an Indian cytogeneticist, cell biologist, cytochemist and a former Sir Rashbehary Ghose Professor and Head of the Department of Botany at the University of Kolkata, College of Science and Technology. Considered by many as the father of Indian cytology, he headed the Centre for Advanced Study on Cell and Chromosome at the University and is known for his contributions to the studies on the physical and chemical nature of chromosomes. A Jawaharlal Nehru fellow, he is a recipient of several honors including the Om Prakash Bhasin Award and the VASVIK Industrial Research Award. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1967, for his contributions to biological sciences. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honor of the Padma Bhushan in 1983.
Prafullachandra Vishnu Sane is an Indian molecular biologist and plant physiologist, known for his pioneering studies on photosynthesis. He is a former director of National Botanical Research Institute and an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, India, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1981, for his contributions to biological sciences.
Chandrashekhar Agashe was an Indian industrialist and lawyer, best remembered as the founder of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. He served as the managing director of the company from its inception in 1934 till his death in 1956. He served as the President of the Bhor State Council from 1932 to 1934.
Ralph Works Chaney was an American paleobotanist. The standard author abbreviation R.W.Chaney is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Margaret E. Collinson is a paleobotanist at Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom.
Sergio Archangelsky is an Argentine paleobotanist and palynologist. He is a pioneer of modern paleobotany in Argentina, as well as of cuticular morphology and ultrastructure. He is also a corresponding member of the Argentine Academy of Science.
