“Ireland Before the Dinosaurs: A Plant Story”

By Dr Carla J. Harper (Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract: During the late Devonian, about 360 million years ago, Ireland was a tropical paradise. On land, the plants ruled the continents, accompanied by micro-organisms and early relatives of the spiders, millipedes, and centipedes. This talk will focus on two aspects of the late Devonian in Ireland: 1) the different types of (micro)organisms that lived during that time and how they interacted with the world around them; 2) the spectacular, and world famous, Devonian–Carboniferous plant fossils from Kiltorcan (Co. Kilkenny). Overall, Ireland’s rich plant fossil history plays a key role in answering exciting research questions, but raises many more. Studying these fossil plants and their dynamics in past environments provides a powerful insight into both the current and future ecosystems of Ireland, and the world.  

Date and Time: Wednesday, 9th November 2022, between 19:00 pm and 20:00 via Zoom.