Lloyd, G. T. et al. Dinosaurs and the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Proc. R. Soc. B 275, 2483–2490 (2008).
Google Scholar
Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P. et al. The delayed rise of present-day mammals. Nature 446, 507–512 (2007).
Google Scholar
Herrera-Flores, J. A., Stubbs, T. L. & Benton, M. J. Ecomorphological diversification of squamates in the Cretaceous. R. Soc. Open Sci. 8, 201961 (2021).
Google Scholar
Benton, M. J. The origins of modern biodiversity on land. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 365, 3667–3679 (2010).
Google Scholar
Roelants, K. et al. Global patterns of diversifcation in the history of modern amphibians. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 887–892 (2007).
Google Scholar
Grosberg, R. K., Vermeij, G. J. & Wainwright, P. C. Biodiversity in water and on land. Curr. Biol. 22, 900–903 (2012).
Condamine, F. L., Silvestro, D., Koppelhus, E. B. & Antonelli, A. The rise of angiosperms pushed conifers to decline during global cooling. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 28867–28875 (2020).
Google Scholar
Buggs, R. J. The deepening of Darwin’s abominable mystery. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0169 (2017).
Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R., Pedersen, K. R., Stampanoni, M. & Marone, F. Exceptional preservation of tiny embryos documents seed dormancy in early angiosperms. Nature 528, 551–554 (2015).
Google Scholar
Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R. & Pedersen, K. R. Early Flowers and Angiosperm Evolution (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).
Friis, E. M., Pedersen, K. R. & Crane, P. R. Cretaceous angiosperm flowers: Innovation and evolution in plant reproduction. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 232, 251–293 (2006).
Soltis, P. S., Folk, R. A. & Soltis, D. E. Darwin review: angiosperm phylogeny and evolutionary radiations. Proc. R. Soc. B 286, 20190099 (2019).
Google Scholar
Bond, W. J. & Scott, A. C. Fire and the spread of flowering plants in the Cretaceous. New Phytol. 188, 1137–1150 (2010).
Google Scholar
Bond, W. J. & Midgley, J. J. Fire and the angiosperm revolutions. Int. J. Plant Sci. 173, 569–583 (2012).
Belcher, C. M. & Hudspith, V. A. Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytol. 213, 1521–1532 (2017).
Google Scholar
He, T., Lamont, B. B. & Pausas, J. G. Fire as a key driver of Earth’s biodiversity. Biol. Rev. 94, 1983–2010 (2019).
Google Scholar
Cruickshank, R. D. & Ko, K. Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, Northern Myanmar. J. Asian Earth Sci. 21, 441–455 (2003).
Shi, G. H. et al. Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U–Pb dating of zircons. Cretac. Res. 37, 155–163 (2012).
Yu, T. et al. An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 166, 11345–11350 (2019).
Xing, L. D. & Qiu, L. Zircon U–Pb age constraints on the Hkamti amber biota in northern Myanmar. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 558, 109960 (2020).
Xia, F. Y., Yang, G., Zhang, Q. & Shi, G. L. Amber Lives Through Time and Space (Beijing Science Press, 2015).
Poinar, G. O. & Brown, A. E. A green algae (Chaetophorales: Chaetophoraceae) in Burmese amber. Hist. Biol. 33, 323–327 (2019).
Liu, Z. J., Huang, D., Cai, C. Y. & Wang, X. The core eudicot boom registered in Myanmar amber. Sci. Rep. 8, 16765 (2018).
Google Scholar
Poinar, G. O. & Chambers, K. L. Tropidogyne pentaptera sp. nov., a new mid-Cretaceous fossil angiosperm flower in Burmese amber. Palaeodiversity 10, 135–140 (2017).
Poinar, G. O. & Chambers, K. L. Palaeoanthella huangii gen. and sp. nov., an Early Cretaceous flower (Angiospermae) in Burmese amber. SIDA 21, 2087–2092 (2005).
Goldblatt, P. An analysis of the flora of Southern Africa: its characteristics, relationships, and orgins. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 65, 369–436 (1978).
Verboom, G. A. et al. in Fynbos: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region (eds Allsopp, N. et al.) 93–118 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).
Hauenschild, F., Favre, A., Michalak, I. & Muellner-Riehl, A. N. The influence of the Gondwanan breakup on the biogeographic history of the ziziphoids (Rhamnaceae). J. Biogeogr. 45, 2669–2677 (2018).
Onstein, R. E. & Linder, H. P. Beyond climate: convergence in fast evolving sclerophylls in Cape and Australian Rhamnaceae predates the mediterranean climate. J. Ecol. 104, 665–677 (2016).
Brown, S., Scott, A. C., Glasspool, I. J. & Collinson, M. E. Cretaceous wildfires and their impact on the Earth system. Cretac. Res. 36, 162–190 (2012).
Richardson, J. E. et al. Rapid and recent origin of species richness in the Cape flora of South Africa. Nature 412, 181–183 (2001).
Google Scholar
Pillans, N. S. The genus Phylica. J. S. Afr. Bot. 8, 1–164 (1942).
Rebelo, T. et al. in The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (eds Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M. C.) 52–219 (South African National Biodiversity Institute, 2006).
Gimingham, C. H. & Cowling, R. The ecology of fynbos: nutrients, fire and diversity. J. Ecol. 81, 195–196 (1993).
Richardson, J. E., Fay, M. F., Cronk, Q. C. B. & Cronk, M. W. Species delimitation and the origin of populations in island representatives of Phylica (Rhamnaceae). Evolution 57, 816–827 (2003).
Google Scholar
Richardson, J. E. Molecular Systematics of the Genus Phylica L. With an Emphasis on the Island Species (Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1999).
Schirarend, C. & Köhler, E. World Pollen and Spore Flora: Rhamnaceae Juss (Scandinavian Univ. Press, 1993).
Medan, D. & Schirarend, C. in Flowering plants · Dicotyledons (ed. Kubitzki, K.) 320–338 (Springer, 2004).
Gotelli, M. M., Galati, B. G. & Medan, D. Morphological and ultrastructural studies of floral nectaries in Rhamnaceae. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 144, 63–73 (2017).
Friedrich, O., Norris, R. D. & Erbacher, J. Evolution of middle to Late Cretaceous oceans–a 55 m.y. record of Earth’s temperature and carbon cycle. Geology 40, 107–110 (2012).
Google Scholar
Lenton, T. M., Daines, S. J. & Mills, B. J. W. COPSE reloaded: an improved model of biogeochemical cycling over Phanerozoic time. Earth Sci. Rev. 178, 1–28 (2018).
Google Scholar
Huber, B. T., Hodell, D. A. & Hamilton, C. P. Middle-Late Cretaceous climate of the southern high latitudes: stable isotopic evidence for minimal equator-to-pole thermal gradients. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 107, 1164–1191 (1995).
Belcher, C. M., Yearsley, J. M., Hadden, R. M., Mcelwain, J. C. & Rein, G. Baseline intrinsic flammability of Earth’s ecosystems estimated from paleoatmospheric oxygen over the past 350 million years. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 22448–22453 (2010).
Google Scholar
Berner, R. A., Beerling, D. J., Dudley, R., Robinson, J. M. & Wildman, R. A. Phanerozoic atmospheric oxygen. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 31, 105–134 (2003).
Google Scholar
Glasspool, I. J. & Scott, A. C. Phanerozoic concentrations of atmospheric oxygen reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal. Nat. Geosci. 3, 627–630 (2010).
Google Scholar
Poulsen, C. J., Tabor, C. & White, J. D. Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations. Science 348, 1238–1241 (2015).
Google Scholar
Hudspith, V. A. & Belcher, C. M. Fire biases the production of charred flowers: implications for the Cretaceous fossil record. Geology 45, 727–730 (2017).
Scott, A. C. Charcoal recognition, taphonomy and uses in palaeoenvironmental analysis. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 291, 11–39 (2010).
Scott, A. C. The use of charcoal to interpret Cretaceous wildfires and volcanic activity. Glob. Geol. 22, 217–241 (2019).
Scott, A. C., Cripps, J. A., Nichols, G. J. & Collinson, M. E. The taphonomy of charcoal following a recent heathland fire and some implications for the interpretation of fossil charcoal deposits. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 164, 1–31 (2000).
Whtilock, C., Higuera, P. E., McWethy, D. B. & Briles, C. E. Paleoecological perspectives on fire ecology: revisiting the fire-regime concept. Open Ecol. J. 3, 6–23 (2010).
Bond, W. J. & Keeley, J. E. Fire as global ‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20, 387–394 (2005).
Google Scholar
Bowman, D. M. J. S. et al. Fire in the Earth system. Science 324, 481–484 (2009).
Google Scholar
Crisp, M. D., Burrows, G. E., Cook, L. G., Thornhill, A. H. & Bowman, D. M. J. S. Flammable biomes dominated by eucalypts originated at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Nat. Commun. 2, 193 (2011).
Google Scholar
Pausas, J. G. & Keeley, J. E. A burning story: the role of fire in the history of life. Bioscience 59, 593–601 (2009).
Scott, A. C. Burning Planet. The Story of Fire Through Time (Oxford Univ. Press, 2018).
Scott, A. C. Fire: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Univ. Press, 2020).
Scott, A. C., Bowman, D. J. M. S., Bond, W. J., Pyne, S. J. & Alexander M. Fire on Earth: An Introduction (J. Wiley & Sons Press, 2014).
Keeley, J. E., Pausas, J. G., Rundel, P. W., Bond, W. J. & Bradstock, R. A. Fire as an evolutionary pressure shaping plant traits. Trends Plant Sci. 16, 406–411 (2011).
Google Scholar
Lenton,T. M. in Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: An Interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science (ed. Belcher, C. M.) 289–308 (J. Wiley & Sons Press, 2013).
Herendeen, P. S., Magallon-Puebla, S., Lupia, R., Crane, P. R. & Kobylinska, J. A preliminary conspectus of the Allon flora from the Late Cretaceous (Late Santonian) of the central Georgia, USA. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 86, 407–471 (1999).
He, T., Pausas, J. G., Belcher, C. M., Schwilk, D. W. & Lamont, B. B. Fire-adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous. New Phytol. 194, 751–759 (2012).
Google Scholar
Cornwell, W. K. et al. Flammability across the gymnosperm phylogeny: the importance of litter particle size. New Phytol. 206, 672–681 (2015).
Google Scholar
Lamont, B. B. & He, T. Fire-adapted Gondwanan angiosperm floras evolved in the Cretaceous. BMC Evol. Biol. 12, 223 (2012).
Google Scholar
He, T., Lamont, B. B. & Manning, J. A. Cretaceous origin for fire adaptations in the Cape flora. Sci. Rep. 6, 34880 (2016).
Google Scholar
He, T., Lamont, B. B. & Downes, K. S. Banksia born to burn. New Phytol. 191, 184–196 (2011).
Google Scholar
Midgley, J. & Bond, W. Pushing back in time, the role of fire in plant evolution. New Phytol. 191, 5–7 (2011).
Google Scholar
Scott, A. C. The Pre-Quaternary history of fire. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 164, 281–329 (2000).
Midgley, J. J., Kruger, L. M. & Skelton, R. How do fires kill plants? The hydraulic death hypothesis and Cape Proteaceae “fire-resisters”. S. Afr. J. Bot. 77, 381–386 (2011).
Lamont, B. B., Groom, P. K., Williams, M. & He, T. LMA, density and thickness: recognizing different leaf shapes and correcting for their non-laminarity. New Phytol. 207, 942–947 (2015).
Google Scholar
Lamont, B. B., He, T. & Yan, Z. Evolutionary history of fire-stimulated resprouting, flowering, seed release and germination. Biol. Rev. 94, 903–928 (2019).
Google Scholar
Schwilk, D. W. & Kerr, B. Genetic niche-hiking: an alternative explanation for the evolution of flammability. Oikos 99, 431–442 (2002).
Kilian, D. & Cowling, R. M. Comparative seed biology and co-existence of two fynbos shrub species. J. Veg. Sci. 3, 637–646 (1992).
Hall, S. A., Newton, R. J., Holmes, P. M., Gaertner, M. & Esler, K. J. Heat and smoke pre‐treatment of seeds to improve restoration of an endangered Mediterranean climate vegetation type. Austral Ecol. 42, 354–366 (2017).
Ruprecht, E., Fenesi, A., Fodor, E. I., Kuhn, T. & Tklyi, J. Shape determines fire tolerance of seeds in temperate grasslands that are not prone to fire. Perspect. Plant Ecol. 17, 397–404 (2015).
Mohr, B. A. R. & Friis, E. M. Early angiosperms from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation (Brazil), a preliminary report. Int. J. Plant Sci. 161, 155–167 (2000).
Forest, F. et al. Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots. Nature 445, 757–760 (2007).
Google Scholar
Linder, H. P. Evolution of diversity: the Cape flora. Trends Plant Sci. 10, 536–541 (2005).
Google Scholar
Linder, H. P. The radiation of the Cape flora, southern Africa. Biol. Rev. 78, 597–638 (2003).
Google Scholar
Poinar, G. O. Burmese amber: evidence of Gondwanan origin and Cretaceous dispersion. Hist. Biol. 31, 1304–1309 (2019).
Oliveira, I. D. S. et al. Earliest onychophoran in amber reveals Gondwanan migration patterns. Curr. Biol. 26, 2594–2601 (2016).
Google Scholar
Poinar, G. O., Lambert, J. B. & Wu, Y. Araucarian source of fossiliferous Burmese amber: spectroscopic and anatomical evidence. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Tex. 1, 449–455 (2007).
Cai, C. Y. et al. Basal polyphagan beetles in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar: biogeographic implications and long-term morphological stasis. Proc. R. Soc. B 286, 2175 (2019).
Zhang, W., Li, H., Shih, C., Zhang, A. & Ren, D. Phylogenetic analyses with four new Cretaceous bristletails reveal inter-relationships of Archaeognatha and Gondwana origin of Meinertellidae. Cladistics 34, 384–406 (2018).
Google Scholar
Westerweel, J. et al. Burma Terrane part of the Trans-Tethyan Arc during collision with India according to palaeomagnetic data. Nat. Geosci. 12, 5–6 (2019).
Metcalfe, I. in Biogeography and Geological Evolution of SE Asia (eds Hall, R. & Holloway, J. D.) 25–41 (Backhuys Publishers Press,1998).
Li, J., Wu, Y., Peng, J. & Batten, D. J. Palynofloral evolution on the northern margin of the Indian Plate, southern Xizang, China during the Cretaceous period and its phytogeographic significance. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 515, 107–122 (2019).
Smith, A. G., Smith, D. G. & Funnell B. M. Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Coastlines (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004).
Klages, J. P. et al. Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth. Nature 580, 81–86 (2020).
Google Scholar
Coetzee, J. A. & Muller, J. The phytogeographic significance of some extinct Gondwana pollen types from the Tertiary of the southwestern Cape (South Africa). Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 71, 1088–1099 (1984).
De Villiers, S. E. & Cadman, A. The palynology of Tertiary sediments from a palaeochannel in Namaqualand, South Africa. Palaeontol. Afr. 34, 69–99 (1997).
De Villiers, S. E. & Cadman, A. An analysis of the palynomorphs obtained from Tertiary sediments at Koingnaas, Namaqualand, South Africa. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 33, 17–47 (2001).
Sandersen, A., Scott, L., McLachlan, I. R. & Hancox, P. J. Cretaceous biozonation based on terrestrial palynomorphs from two wells in the offshore Orange Basin of South Africa. Palaeontol. Afr. 46, 21–41 (2011).
Hooghiemstra, H., Lézine, A. M., Leroy, S. A. G., Dupont, L. & Marret, F. Late Quaternary palynology in marine sediments: a synthesis of the understanding of pollen distribution patterns in the NW African setting. Quat. Int. 148, 29–44 (1988).
Scholtz, A. The palynology of the upper lacustrine sediments of the Arnot Pipe, Banke, Namaqualand. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 95, 1–109 (1985).
Sciscio, L. et al. Fluctuations in Miocene climate and sea levels along the south-western South African coast: inferences from biogeochemistry, palynology and sedimentology. Palaeontol. Afr. 48, 2–18 (2013).
Roberts, D. L. et al. Miocene fluvial systems and palynofloras at the southwestern tip of Africa: implications for regional and global fluctuations in climate and ecosystems. Earth Sci. Rev. 124, 184–201 (2013).
Roberts, D. L. et al. Palaeoenvironments during a terminal Oligocene or early Miocene transgression in a fluvial system at the southwestern tip of Africa. Glob. Planet. Change 150, 1–23 (2017).
Grimaldi, D., Engel, M. S. & Nascimbene, P. Fossiliferous Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma): its rediscovery, biotic diversity, and paleontological significance. Am. Mus. Novit. 3361, 1–72 (2002).
Mao, Y. et al. Various amberground marine animals on Burmese amber with discussions on its age. Palaeoentomology 1, 91–103 (2018).
Smith, R. D. & Ross, A. J. Amberground pholadid bivalve borings and inclusions in Burmese amber: implications for proximity of resin-producing forests to brackish waters, and the age of the amber. Earth Env. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinb. 107, 239–247 (2018).
Schmidt, A. R. & Dilcher, D. L. Aquatic organisms as amber inclusions and examples from a modern swamp forest. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 16581–16585 (2007).
Google Scholar
Cole, L. E., Bhagwat, S. A. & Willis, K. J. Fire in the swamp forest: palaeoecological insights into natural and human-induced burning in intact tropical peatlands. Front. For. Glob. Change 2, 48 (2019).
Labandeira, C. C. in Reading and Writing of the Fossil Record: Preservational Pathways to Exceptional Fossilization. The Paleontological Society Papers (eds Laflamme, M. et al.) 163–216 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).
Seyfullah, L. J. et al. Production and preservation of resins–past and present. Biol. Rev. 93, 1684–1714 (2018).
Google Scholar
Putz, M. K. & Taylor, E. L. Wound response in fossil trees assemblages from Antarctica and its potential as a palaeoenvironmental indicator. IAWA J. 17, 77–88 (1996).
McKellar, R. C. et al. Insect outbreaks produce distinctive carbon isotope signatures in defensive resins and fossiliferous ambers. Proc. R. Soc. B 278, 3219–3224 (2011).
Google Scholar
Pausas, J. G. Generalized fire response strategies in plants and animals. Oikos 128, 147–153 (2019).
Schmidt, A. R. et al. Arthropods in amber from the Triassic Period. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 14796–14801 (2012).
Google Scholar
Silvestro, D. et al. Fossil data support a pre-Cretaceous origin of flowering plants. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 449–457 (2021).
Google Scholar
Donoghue, P. Evolution: the flowering of land plant evolution. Curr. Biol. 29, 753–756 (2019).
Thulin, M. et al. Family relationships of the enigmatic rosid genera Barbeya and Dirachma from the Horn of Africa region. Plant Syst. Evol. 213, 103–119 (1998).
Wilf, P., Carvalho, M. R., Gandolfo, M. A. & Cúneo, N. R. Eocene lantern fruits from Gondwanan Patagonia and the early origins of Solanaceae. Science 355, 71–75 (2017).
Google Scholar
