Dr Rose Prevec (née Adendorff)

‌

Research Associate

Palaeobotany

Ph.D.  University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, RSA
Palaeobotany (2005)
Ph.D. University of Natal
Pietermaritzburg, RSA
Plant Pathology (1997)
B.Sc. (Hons) University of Natal
Pietermaritzburg, RSA
Plant Pathology (1994)

CURRENT POSITION

Candidate Natural Scientist (Palaeontology), Department of Earth Science, Albany Museum, Grahamstown

For contact information, see Staff page.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research focuses primarily on the Permian floras of Gondwana, particularly the taxonomy of the glossopterids and their fertile organs, and also their biogeographical and temporal distributions. Other related spheres of research include: floral turnover at the Permian-Triassic transition; the use of Permian floral elements as a biostratigraphic tool within the Karoo and peripheral basins; insect-plant interactions during the Permian, as evidenced by damage to plants in the fossil record; the taphonomy of plant fossils and their physical interpretation, Cretaceous floras and palaeoenvironments of the Eastern Cape. I am also interested in and make use of scientific illustration and fossil reconstruction techniques.

TEACHING

• Geology 201: Introductory palaeobotany (lectures within Palaeontology module)
• Botany 102: Plant diversity (leave replacement lecturing in 2007, 2011)

POST-DOCTORAL EMPLOYMENT

• Rhodes University (Grahamstown, RSA), funded by the NRF through African Origins platform (2008-2010)
• Rhodes University (Grahamstown, RSA), funded by the NSF (USA) (2007)
• Rhodes University (Grahamstown, RSA), funded by RU (2005-2006)
• Research Associate at the Albany Museum (Grahamstown, RSA); development and curation of palaeobotanical collections (2004-present)
• University of the Witwatersrand, (Johannesburg, RSA), funded by the NSF (USA) (2003-2004)

PUBLICATIONS

1. 2011. Bordy, E.M., Linkermann, S. and Prevec, R.  Palaeoenvironmental aspects of some invertebrate trace fossils from the Mid- to Upper Permian Middleton Formation (Adelaide Subgroup, Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), Eastern Cape, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 61:238-244.
2. 2011. Prevec, R. A structural re-interpretation and revision of the type material of the glossopterid ovuliferous fructification Scutum from South Africa. Palaeontologia africana 46:1-19.
3. 2011. McLoughlin, S., Slater, B., Hilton, J. & Prevec, R. New vistas on animal-plant-fungal interactions in the Permian-Triassic of Gondwana. GFF 133, 66-67 (extended abstract).
4. 2010. Prevec, R., Gastaldo, R.A., Neveling, J., Reid, S.B. and Looy, C.V. An autochthonous glossopterid flora with latest Permian palynomorphs and its depositional setting in the Dicynodon Assemblage Zone of the southern Karoo Basin, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292(3-4):391-408.
5. 2009. Prevec, R., Labandeira, C.C., Neveling, J., Gastaldo, R.A., Bamford, M.K. and Looy, C.V. Portrait of a Gondwanan ecosystem: a new Late Permian locality from Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology 156:454-493.
6. 2009. Bordy, E.M. and Prevec, R. Lithostratigraphic description of the Emakwezini Formation. Catalogue of the South African Lithostratigraphic Units: South African Committee for Stratigraphy.
7. 2009. Aristov, D.S., Prevec, R. and Mostovski, M.B. New and poorly known grylloblattids (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from the Lopingian of the Lebombo Basin, South Africa. African Invertebrates 50 (2): 279-286.
8. 2008. Bordy, E.M. and Prevec, R. Sedimentology, palaeontology and palaeo-environments of the Middle (?) to Upper Permian Emakwezini Formation (Karoo Supergroup, South Africa). South African Journal of Geology 111(4): 429-458.
9. 2008. Prevec, R., McLoughlin, S. and Bamford, M. Novel double wing morphology revealed in a South African ovuliferous glossopterid fructification: Bifariala intermittens (Plumstead 1958) comb. nov. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 150:22-36.
10. 2005. Gastaldo, R.A., Adendorff, R., Bamford, M., Labandiera, C.C., Neveling, J. and Sims, H. Taphonomic trends of macrofloral assemblages across the Permian-Triassic boundary, Karoo Basin, South Africa. Palaios 20:480-498.
11. 2003. Adendorff, R., Bamford, M.K. and McLoughlin, S. Liknopetalon: a review of a rare gondwanan, Permian pteridophyte. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 126:83-101.
12. 2002. Adendorff, R., McLoughlin, S. and Bamford, M.K. A new genus of ovuliferous glossopterid fructifications from South Africa. Palaeontologia africana 38:1-17.

 Publications: non subsidy-earning

1. 2012. Prevec, R. The life of coal. Quest 8(4):26-31.
2. 2009. Prevec, R. and Bordy, E.M. Book review: Plant–Arthropod Interactions in the Early Angiosperm History – Evidence from the Cretaceous of Israel, edited by V. Krassilov and A. Rasnitsyn: African Entomology 17(1): 120-121.
3. 2006. Miller, I. & Prevec, R. Moving Fingers: Palaeobotany in the Digital Age: Unearthing the Future of Taxonomy. Palaeontologia electronica Vol. 9, Issue 2.3E 3p, 95KB; http://palaeo-electronica.org/paleo/toc9_2.htm.
4. 2006. Prevec, R. The power of plants: how ancient forests drive SA's economy. Science in Africa Issue. 46, February. http://scienceinafrica.co.za/2006/february/coal.htm.

RECENT CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

International

1. 2012: Geissman, J.W., Gastaldo, R.A., Neveling, J., Prevec, R., Kamo, S., Spencer, K., Langwenya, M. Paleomagnetism of an uppermost Permian section in the Lootsberg Pass area, central Karoo Basin: What remanence signal is recorded in the Permo-Triassic boundary sequences in the Karoo Basin? Abstract 1485197, Congress of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, Calif., 3-7 Dec.
2. 2012: Prevec, R., Sciscio, L., Looy, C. and Gastaldo, R.A.G. Well-preserved impression/compressions of Trizygia speciosa, including the first cones and spores of this widespread Gondwanan sphenophyte, from the Latest Permian of South Africa. International Organisation of Palaeobotany Congress, Tokyo, Japan (July).
3. 2012: Labandeira, C.C. & Prevec, R. Insect herbivore diversification after the end-Permian crisis: evidence from leaf miners. Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Lisbon.
4. 2011: McLoughlin, S., Slater, B., Hilton, J. & Prevec, R. 2011. New vistas on animal-plant-fungal interactions in the Permian-Triassic of Gondwana. GFF 133, 66-67. (extended abstract)
5. 2008: Gastaldo, R.A., Prevec, R. & Neveling, J. Taphonomic constraints on the Permian-Triassic megafloral record in the Karoo Basin, South Africa: TERRA NOSTRA 2008/2, p. 88-89. (GSA).

 National

1. 2012: Rose Prevec, Lara Sciscio, Cindy Looy and Robert A. Gastaldo. A reconstruction of the sphenophyte Trizygia speciosa from the Latest Permian Wapadsberg Pass locality in the Eastern Cape. 17th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Cape Town (August).
2. 2012: Conrad Labandeira and Rose Prevec. Insect herbivore diversification after the end-Permian crisis: evidence from leaf miners. 17th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Cape Town (August).
3. 2010: Linkermann, S.A., Bordy, E. & Prevec, R. New macrofloral assemblages from the Middle to Upper Permian of the southern main Karoo Basin, South Africa. 16th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Howick, South Africa.
4. 2008: Prevec, R. & Bordy, E. M. A preliminary assessment of the Glossopteris-dominated fossil plant assemblages of the Emakwezini Formation (lower Beaufort, Karoo Supergroup, South Africa) and their palaeo-environmental setting. 15th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa. September 11-14, Matjiesfontein, South Africa. p. 160- 161.
5. 2008: E.M. Bordy, R. Prevec and D. Grant. Sedimentology, palaeobotany and coal geology of the Upper Permian Emakwezini Formation (Lebombo Basin, South Africa). American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) International Conference and Exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa.

RESEARCH PROJECTS (LAST 5 YEARS)

1. Fossil floras of the Emakwezini Formation (2007-present). Collaborators: Dr. E.M. Bordy, Rhodes University (now University of Cape Town). Outcomes:  1 local conference presentation; 3 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

2. South African Permian-Triassic Terrestrial Ecosystems (SAPTTE) project (2002-present). Study of plant and insect diversity changes in the lead-up to and aftermath of the Permian Triassic extinction event. International, interdisciplinary, collaborative project with Dr C.C. Labandeira (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.), Dr H. Simms (Iowa State University), Prof. R.A. Gastaldo (Colby College, Maine), Dr Johann Neveling (Council for Geoscience, Pretoria), Prof. John Geissman (University of Texas, USA), Dr Cindy Looy (University of Berkeley, California), Prof. M.K. Bamford (University of the Witwatersrand). Outcomes: 4 international and 3 local conference presentations; 3 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

3. Cretaceous floras of the Kirkwood Formation, Eastern Cape. Study of the palaeoenvironments, wildfire history and floral and faunal diversity of the Kirkwood Formation in the Eastern Cape. Collaborators Prof. M.K. Bamford, Dr Billy de Klerk.

4. Permian coal micro- and macrofossil floras of the Karoo and coeval basins in southern Africa. Integration of microfossil analysis and macroplant studies of coal-associated deposits in the northern and north-eastern Karoo Basin, with a view to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and floral diversity assessment. Collaborators: Prof. Annette Götz (Rhodes University).

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY ACTIVITIES

• Member of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa (PSSA, Executive Committee)
• Editor of biannual newsletter of the PSSA: PALNEWS (2006-2012)
• Associate editor of Palaeontologia electronica