Richard Lupia

Assistant Professor of Geology and Geophysics
Assistant Curator of Micropaleontology and Paleobotany,
Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

   Ph.D., 1997, University of Chicago
   M.S., 1994, University of Chicago
   B.A., 1991, University of

rlupia@ou.edu

Paleobotany and Micropaleontology

I am interested in how large-scale evolutionary and ecological changes in different plant taxa vary over time and across the landscape, and affect the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems throughout the 450 million years that plants have lived on land. My primary research focuses on the early evolutionary radiation of flowering plants during Cretaceous. I am interested in relating observed patterns of taxonomic, phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological diversification in flowering plants, with patterns and processes of environmental change occurring during the Cretaceous. My research integrates field collecting, laboratory research including light and scanning electron microscopy, and literature surveys to examine and test paleoecological patterns.

Current research focuses on the documentation and comparison of the diversity and abundance of plant species in three classes of fossils-palynomorphs (pollen and spores), macrofossils (leaves) and mesofossils-that have been recovered from Cretaceous deposits during fieldwork and collecting from the Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Mesofossils are typically 1-10mm in size and include flowers, seeds, fruits, and fragments of leaves. Mesofossils are often charcoalified and preserve exceptional morphological and anatomical detail (Figures 1-3). I am also interested in and have been developing quantitative methods for examining spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of fossil plant taxa within paleoenvironments. In fieldwork performed at a late Santonian site in Georgia (Figure 4), I found statistically significant variation among mesofossil samples collected across just 16 meters of outcrop. In addition to field studies, I am compiling a database of published pollen and spore occurrences in the Cretaceous that incorporates information on taxonomy, dating, and information on fossil pollen and spore abundance. Abundance data are used much less commonly in fossil studies but are necessary to infer ecological processes. The results of initial analyses of approximately 45,000 occurrences from North America show interesting similarities and differences between diversity and abundance during the radiation of flowering plants (Figure 5).

(Click on the small image to view the full sized image.)

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Besides continuing these projects, I anticipate fieldwork aimed at collecting floras from Cretaceous deposits in southeastern Oklahoma and Texas. I am interested in supervising students interested in the evolution and paleoecology of terrestrial plants and plant communities during any interval of the Phanerozoic. Sedimentary deposits in Oklahoma and Texas contain numerous diverse fossil floras, especially from the Pennsylvanian, Permian, and Cretaceous periods. Many of these floras have been collected extensively. Specimens are housed on campus in the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and are available for study.

Recent Publications

Lupia, R., S. Lidgard, and P. R. Crane. 1999. Comparing palynological abundance and diversity: implications for biotic replacement during the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation, Paleobiology 25.

Lupia, R. 1999. Discordant morphological disparity and taxonomic diversity during the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation: North American pollen record, Paleobiology 25:1-28.

Lupia, R., P. R. Crane, and S. L. Lidgard, in press. Angiosperm diversification and mid-Cretaceous environmental change, In S. J. Culver and P. F. Rawson, eds. Biotic Responses to Global Change: The Last 145 Million Years, Cambridge University Press.

Herendeen, P. S., S. Magall�n-Puebla, R. Lupia, P. R. Crane, and J. Kobylinska. in press, A preliminary conspectus of the Allon flora from the Late Cretaceous (late Santonian) of central Georgia, USA, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Sims, H. J., P. S. Herendeen, R. Lupia, R. A. Christopher, and P. R. Crane, in press. Fossil flowers with Normapolles pollen from the Late Cretaceous of southeastern North America, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology.

Lupia, R. 1995, Paleobotanical data from fossil charcoal: an actualistic study of seed plant reproductive structures, Palaios 10:465-477.

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My primary research focuses on the early evolutionary radiation of flowering plants during Cretaceous. I am interested in relating observed patterns of taxonomic, phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological diversification in flowering plants, with patterns and processes of environmental change occurring during the Cretaceous. My research integrates field collecting, laboratory research including light and scanning electron microscopy, and literature surveys to examine and test paleoecological patterns. Current research focuses on the documentation and comparison of the diversity and abundance of plant species in three classes of fossils-palynomorphs (pollen and spores), macrofossils (leaves) and mesofossils-that have been recovered from Cretaceous deposits during fieldwork and collecting from the Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Mesofossils are typically 1-10mm in size and include flowers, seeds, fruits, and fragments of leaves. Mesofossils are often charcoalified and preserve exceptional morphological and anatomical detail (Figures 1-3). I am also interested in and have been developing quantitative methods for examining spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of fossil plant taxa within paleoenvironments. In fieldwork performed at a late Santonian site in Georgia (Figure 4), I found statistically significant variation among mesofossil samples collected across just 16 meters of outcrop. In addition to field studies, I am compiling a database of published pollen and spore occurrences in the Cretaceous that incorporates information on taxonomy, dating, and information on fossil pollen and spore abundance. Abundance data are used much less commonly in fossil studies but are necessary to infer ecological processes. The results of initial analyses of approximately 45,000 occurrences from North America show interesting similarities and differences between diversity and abundance during the radiation of flowering plants (Figure 5). (Click on the small image to view the full sized image.) Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Besides continuing these projects, I anticipate fieldwork aimed at collecting floras from Cretaceous deposits in southeastern Oklahoma and Texas. I am interested in supervising students interested in the evolution and paleoecology of terrestrial plants and plant communities during any interval of the Phanerozoic. Sedimentary deposits in Oklahoma and Texas contain numerous diverse fossil floras, especially from the Pennsylvanian, Permian, and Cretaceous periods. Many of these floras have been collected extensively. Specimens are housed on campus in the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and are available for study. Recent Publications Lupia, R., S. Lidgard, and P. R. Crane. 1999. Comparing palynological abundance and diversity: implications for biotic replacement during the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation, Paleobiology 25. Lupia, R. 1999. Discordant morphological disparity and taxonomic diversity during the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation: North American pollen record, Paleobiology 25:1-28. Lupia, R., P. R. Crane, and S. L. Lidgard, in press. Angiosperm diversification and mid-Cretaceous environmental change, In S. J. Culver and P. F. Rawson, eds. Biotic Responses to Global Change: The Last 145 Million Years, Cambridge University Press. Herendeen, P. S., S. Magall�n-Puebla, R. Lupia, P. R. Crane, and J. Kobylinska. in press, A preliminary conspectus of the Allon flora from the Late Cretaceous (late Santonian) of central Georgia, USA, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Sims, H. J., P. S. Herendeen, R. Lupia, R. A. Christopher, and P. R. Crane, in press. Fossil flowers with Normapolles pollen from the Late Cretaceous of southeastern North America, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. Lupia, R. 1995, Paleobotanical data from fossil charcoal: an actualistic study of seed plant reproductive structures, Palaios 10:465-477. end of Content<-->