THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Geological Society of America 3300 Penrose Place OF AMERICA P.O. Box 9140 Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 447-2020 • fax 303-357-1073 www.geosociety.org This PDF file is subject to the following conditions and restrictions: Copyright © 2006, The Geological Society of America, Inc. (GSA). All rights reserved. Copyright not claimed on content prepared wholly by U.S. government employees within scope of their employment. Individual scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further requests to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text in other subsequent works and to make unlimited copies for noncommercial use in classrooms to further education and science. For any other use, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, USA, fax 303-357-1073,
[email protected]. GSA provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regardless of their race, citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not refiect official positions of the Society. Geological Society of America Special Paper 399 2006 Evolution and importance ofwetiands in earth history Stephen F. Greb Kentucky Geological Surrey, 228 MMRB University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA William A. DiMichele Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 20560, USA Robert A. Gastaldo Department of Geology, Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901-8858, USA ABSTRACT The fossil record of wetlands documents unique and long-persistent floras and faunas with wetland habitats spawning or at least preserving novel evolutionary char- acteristics and, at other times, acting as refugia.