Josephine Franke

Tasks

Doctoral student in the DFG project “Towards a holistic reconstruction of the ‘Baltic amber forest’ – angiosperm diversity and its palaeoecological implications”

Research interests

My research project is about the reconstruction of the so-called Baltic amber forest of late Eocene age. I am investigating inclusions of flowering plants (flowers and fruits) in Baltic amber in order to draw conclusions about the past ecosystem based on plant diversity and composition. The plant parts trapped in amber have been preserved in their three-dimensional structure for millions of years and are therefore of particular scientific interest. 

The majority of the literature dealing with angiosperm inclusions from Baltic amber is well over 100 years old. In the meantime, newer technologies such as X-ray microscopy (microCT and synchrotron) allow us to look inside the inclusions and visualize internal structures. This morphological information is used to classify the inclusions taxonomically. This allows the already described fossils to be revised and newly discovered fossils to be described in detail. Once the plant inclusions have been identified, a comparison with their closest extant relatives allows conclusions about habitat structure or the climatic conditions of the past ecosystem.

This project will contribute significantly to our knowledge about the Baltic amber forest. A comprehensive palaeoecological reconstruction will further complete the picture of this Eocene ecosystem and provides insights into the evolution of present-day habitats. The project also represents an important step towards understanding the evolution of flowering plants and their distribution patterns over time.

Research topics

• Angiosperm inclusions in amber
• Baltic amber
• Angiosperm morphology, systematics and evolution
• Reconstructions of paleoecosystems