Friðgeir Grímsson, Privatdoz. MSc PhD

Senior Scientist
Ground floor, room 3
t: +43 (0)1 4277-540 10
m: fridgeir.grimsson@univie.ac.at

© Grimsson

Media contributions

Research interests

  • Palynology
  • Paleopalynology
  • Botany
  • Paleobotany
  • Paleophytogeography

My research interests comprise plant evolution, vegetation differentiation, and climate development in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. I use evidence from the macrofossil record (mostly leaves) and from the record of dispersed pollen and spores to resolve the origin, diversification, and dispersal of plant lineages, to trace past distribution and biogeographic patterns of various plant groups and major plant functional groups, to reconstruct regional and large-scale vegetation changes, and, eventually, to evaluate past climate situations and possible climate changes during the past ca. 100 million years. Key areas of my research have been the Arctic and Subarctic regions and mid-latitude regions in Asia, North America and Europe. My current area of focus is Western and Central Europe, the Mediterranean region, and the African continent.

Projects

 Teaching

Current Courses

 Cooperations

  • Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Austria
  • Department of Paleobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm
  • Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany
  • Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
  • Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
  • Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
  • Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Departments of Botany and Geology & Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
  • Naturalis Biodiversity Center, National Herbarium of the Netherlands, Leiden
  • Don Harrington Discovery Center, 1200 Streit Drive, Amarillo, TX, 79106, USA

 Curriculum Vitae

Current position

  • 2021– Senior Scientist, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Austria.

Education

  • 2015 Venia Docendi (Priv.-Doz.)/Doctor Habilitatus (Dr. habil.) in Paleontology/Paleobotany. University of Vienna, Austria. Thesis: Unravelling Upper Cretaceous and Cainozoic vegetation patterns from Northern Hemispheric palynofloras.
  • 2007 Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) in Geology/Paleobotany. University of Iceland, Reykjavík. Thesis: The Miocene floras of Iceland: origin and evolution of fossil floras from north-west and western Iceland, 15 to 6 Ma.
  • 2002 Master of Science (MS) in Geology/Paleobotany. University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Thesis: The Hreðavatn Member of the Hreðavatn-Stafholt Formation and its fossil flora.
  • 1999 Bachelor of Science (BS) in Geology/Paleobotany. University of Iceland, Reykjavík. Thesis: Þrimilsdalur: an ancient flora in an aesthetic valley.

Scientific career

  • 2018–2021 Research scientist, senior postdoctoral position, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Austria
  • 2013–2014 Assistant Professor, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
  • 2010–2018 Research scientist, senior postdoctoral position, Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Austria
  • 2007–2009 Research scientist, postdoctoral position, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
  • 2002–2009 Lecturer, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
  • 2002–2007 Teacher, Menntaskólinn við Sund (Secondary School, College), Reykjavík

 

Publications

Showing entries 61 - 80 out of 146

2022

Grimsson, F. (2022). Tutorial: Is pollen useful for archaeological research? The what, why, and how! (YRA5). Web publication

2021

Xafis, A., Mayda, S., Alçiçek, C. M., Kaya, T., Halaçlar, K., Grimsson, F., & Nagel, D. (2021). Large giraffids (Mammalia, Ruminantia) from the new late Miocene fossiliferous locality of Kemiklitepe-E (Western Anatolia, Turkey). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 101(3), 853–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-020-00433-4
Wedmann, S., Hörnschemeyer, T., Engel, M. S., Zetter, R., & Grimsson, F. (2021). The last meal of an Eocene pollen-feeding fly. Current Biology, 31(9), 2020-2026. Article E4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.025
Grimsson, F., Ulrich, S., Coiro, M., Graham, S. A., Jacobs, B. F., Currano, E. D., Xafis, A., & Zetter, R. (2021). Hagenia from the early Miocene of Ethiopia: Evidence for possible niche evolution? Ecology and Evolution, 11(10), 5164-5186. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7408
Grimsson, F., Denk, T., & Zetter, R. (2021). Cenozoic Vegetation and Phytogeography of the Sub-arctic North Atlantic. In E. Panagiotakopulu, & J. P. Sadler (Eds.), Biogeography in the Sub‐Arctic: The Past and Future of North Atlantic Biota (1 ed., pp. 29-49). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118561461.ch2
Grimsson, F., Ulrich, S., Zetter, R., Hörnschemeyer, T., Engel, M. S., & Wedmann, S. (2021). How to extract and analyze pollen from internal organs and exoskeletons of fossil insects? STAR Protocols, 2(4), 1-19. Article 100923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100923
Pokorny, R., Fialová, V., Grimsson, F., & Koutecky, V. (2021). Mineral Resources in Iceland: Coal mining. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

2020

Xafis, A., Wolfgring, E., Nagel, D., & Grimsson, F. (2020). The ever-browsing Deinotheriidae (Mammalia, Proboscidea): Did climate change affect conservative herbivory during the Miocene?. 59. Paper presented at 64th Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Huang, H., Morley, R., Licht, A., Dupont-Nivet, G., Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., Westerweel, J., Win, Z., Aung, D. W., & Hoorn, C. (2020). Eocene palms from central Myanmar in a South-East Asian and global perspective: evidence from the palynological record. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 194(2), 177-206. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boaa038
Xafis, A., Saarinen, J., Bastl, K., Nagel, D., & Grímsson, F. (2020). Palaeodietary traits of large mammals from the middle Miocene of Gračanica (Bugojno Basin, Bosnia-Herzegovina). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 100, 457–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-020-00435-2
Grímsson, F., Bouchal, J. M., Xafis, A., & Zetter, R. (2020). Combined LM and SEM study of the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin, Austria. Part V. Magnoliophyta 3–Myrtales to Ericales. Grana, 59(2-3), 127-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2019.1696400
Currano, E. D., Jacobs, B. F., Bush, R. T., Novello, A., Feseha, M., Grimsson, F., McInerney, F. A., Michel, L. A., Pan, A. D., Phelps, S. R., Polissar, P., Strömberg, C. A. E., & Tabor, N. J. (2020). Ecological dynamic equilibrium in an early Miocene (21.73 Ma) forest, Ethiopia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 539, Article 109425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109425
Ferguson, D. K., Grímsson, F., & Weber, M. (2020). Reinhard Zetter, an appreciation. Grana, 59(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2019.1695910
Ulrich, S., & Grímsson, F. (2020). The single-grain method: adding TEM to the equation. Grana, 59(1), 44-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2019.1666915
Martinetto, E., Boonchai, N., Grimsson, F., Grote, P. J., Jordan, G., Kovácová, M., Kunzmann, L., Kvaček, Z., Liu, C. Y.-S., Momohara, A., Huang, Y.-J., Palazzesi, L., Pole, M., & Salzmann, U. (2020). Triumph and Fall of the Wet, Warm, and Never-More-Diverse Temperate Forests (Oligocene-Pliocene). In Nature Through Time: Virtual Field Trips Through the Nature of the Past (pp. 55-81). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35058-1_2

2019

Xafis, A., Mayda, S., Grimsson, F., Nagel, D., Kaya, T., & Halaçlar, K. (2019). Fossil Giraffidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the early Turolian of Kavakdere (Central Anatolia, Turkey). Academie des Sciences. Comptes Rendus. Palevol, 18(6), 619-642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2019.04.010
Grimsson, F., Graham, S. A., Coiro, M., Jacobs, B. F., Xafis, A., Neumann, F. H., Scott, L., Sakala, J., Currano, E. D., & Zetter, R. (2019). Origin and divergence of Afro-Indian Picrodendraceae: linking pollen morphology, dispersal modes, fossil records, molecular dating and paleogeography. Grana, 58(4), 227-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2019.1594357
Xafis, A., Tsoukala, E., Solounias, N., Mandic, O., Harzhauser, M., Grímsson, F., & Nagel, D. (2019). Fossil Giraffidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the late Miocene of Thermopigi (Macedonia, Greece). Palaeontologia Electronica, 22(3), Article 22.3.67. https://doi.org/10.26879/889
Grímsson, F., van Valkenburg, J. L. C. H., Wieringa, J. J., Xafis, A., Jacobs, B. F., & Zetter, R. (2019). Pollen morphology of the African Sclerosperma (Arecaceae). Grana, 58(2), 99-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2018.1519033
Grímsson, F., Jacobs, B. F., Van Valkenburg, J. L. C. H., Wieringa, J. J., Xafis, A., Tabor, N., Pan, A. D., & Zetter, R. (2019). Sclerosperma fossils from the late Oligocene of Chilga, north-western Ethiopia. Grana, 58(2), 81-98 . https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2018.1510977
Showing entries 61 - 80 out of 146