A global synthesis of Cretaceous–Paleogene fossil woody angiosperms

The emergence and subsequent radiation of woody angiosperms fundamentally transformed terrestrial ecosystems, setting down the foundation for modern forests and shrublands. This study presents the first comprehensive dataset of fossil woody angiosperm records across the Cretaceous–Paleogene, based on an exhaustive literature review. Using this dataset, we quantified raw taxonomic richness, extinction and origination rates to analyse the main diversity trends across this transition. While fossil records of woody species were exiguous in the Early Cretaceous (starting from the Aptian), our results confirm that angiosperm diversity increased markedly during the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution (ATR, 100–50 Ma). By the Maastrichtian, taxonomic richness reached an early peak, witnessing the establishment of major clades including Superrosids and Superasterids. We further find that the diversity dynamics of woody angiosperms during the time interval was punctuated by three key events that drove declines in diversity across family and genus levels. Notably, around 40% of genera became extinct between the K–Pg transition and the subsequent restructuring of forests throughout the Palaeocene and Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event. However, we record no family-level extinctions, a pattern that persists throughout the entire interval studied. Conversely, approximately 48.5% of genera appeared during the same interval, highlighting the process of forest reorganization. Although Paleogene diversity patterns track major climatic shifts, inherent sampling and dating biases currently limit establishment of firm the mechanistic links between climate and diversity patterns.