Dr. phil. habil. Friðgeir Grímsson
Senior Scientist
Ground floor, room 3
t: +43 (0)1 4277-540 10
m: fridgeir.grimsson@univie.ac.at
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
- Korreliert in-situ Pollen fossiler Blüten mit Insekten?/Flower Power: can in-situ pollen link fossil plants to floral visitors?
FWF-Project P 34303 - Out of Africa: did plants disperse via the Gomphotherium land bridge?
FWF-Projekt P29501-B25
Link to this project: http://www.fridgeirgrimsson.com/fwf-p29501-b25/ - Paleogene flora of western Greenland and the Faeroes
FWF-Projekt P24427-B25
Link to this project: http://www.fridgeirgrimsson.com/fwf-p24427-b25/ - Mid-Miocene floristic changes and differentiation patterns
- Pliocene and Pleistocene floras of Iceland
- Miocene floras of Iceland
Teaching
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
2015
Wappler, T., Labandeira, C. C., Engel, M. S., Zetter, R., & Grimsson, F. (2015). Specialized and generalized pollen-collection strategies in an ancient bee lineage. Current Biology, 25, 3092-3098. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.021
2014
Pott, C., Grimsson, F., Hojgaard, B., Hofmann, C., Grimm, G., Fridgeirsson, G. R., & Denk, T. (2014). First Ginkgo leaf fossils from the Faroe Islands. Poster session presented at 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., Pedersen, G. K., Pedersen, A. K., & Denk, T. (2014). Middle Eocene palynoflora from a resiniterich coal bed on Hareoen (Qeqertarsuatsiaq), West Greenland. In 9th European Palaeobotany-Palynology Conference
Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., & Denk, T. (2014). Revisions of the early Cenozoic macrofloras from West Greenland reveal the actual age and floral elements of Oswald Heer's (1868-1883) classic Upper Atanikerluk "Miocene" floras. Poster session presented at 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., Halbritter, H., & Grimm, G. (2014). Aponogeton pollen from the Cretaceous and Paleogene of North America and West Greenland: Implications for the origin and palaeobiogeography of the genus. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 200, 161-187. doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2013.09.005
Wappler, T., Grimsson, F., Wang, B., Nel, A., Olafsson, E., Kotov, A. A., Davis, S. R., & Engel, M. S. (2014). Before the "Big Chill": A preliminary overview of arthropods from the middle Miocene of Iceland (Insecta, Crustacea). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 401, 1-12. doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.03.006
Zetter, R., & Grimsson, F. (2014). Early Paleocene palynoflora from nodular phosphorites of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, West Greenland. 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Bouchal, J., Zetter, R., Grimsson, F., & Denk, T. (2014). Evolutionary trends and ecological differentiation in early Cenozoic Fagaceae of western North America. American Journal of Botany: the journal for all plant biologists, 101(8), 1332-1349. www.amjbot.org
Zetter, R., Akyurt, E., Berger, A., Gröbner, D., Göschl, W., Phuphumirat, W., & Grimsson, F. (2014). Exceptional Middle Devonian spore flora from Syria shows remarkable sculpturing types during early periods of terrestrial trilaesurate spore evolution. Poster session presented at 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Denk, T., Grimsson, F., & Zetter, R. (2014). Origins of the north-temperate tree flora: revisiting Engler's concept of the Arcto-Tertiary element. 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Zetter, R., Grimsson, F., Hofmann, C., & Grimm, G. (2014). Paleogene Loranthaceae pollen from West Greenland and Eurasia. In 9th European Palaeobotany-Palynoloy Conference
Wappler, T., Grimsson, F., & Denk, T. (2014). Patterns of plant-insect associations from the Miocene of Iceland. In 9th European Palaeobotany-Palynology Conference
Beck, L., Rasmussen, J. A., & Grimsson, F. (2014). Preliminary study on the early Eocene Macclintockia leaf fossils from Fur, Denmark. Poster session presented at 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
Grimsson, F., Hojgaard, B., Hofmann, C., Pott, C., Grimm, G., Fridgeirsson, G. R., Denk, T., & Zetter, R. (2014). Revisiting the late Paleocene Mykines macrofossil site, Faeroe Islands. Poster session presented at 9th European Palaeobotany Palynology Conference (EPPC), Padova, Italy.
2013
Denk, T., Grimm, G. W., Grimsson, F., & Zetter, R. (2013). Evidence from "Köppen signatures" of fossil plant assemblages for effective heat transport of Gulf Stream to subarctic North Atlantic during Miocene cooling. Biogeosciences, 10, 7927-7942. doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7927-2013
2012
Bolinder, K., Hoorn, C., Dupont-Nivet, G., Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., & Rydin, C. (2012). Diversification patterns in Ephedra (Gnetales) based on morphological studies of fossil and recent pollen. 13th International Palynological Congress and 9th International Organization of Palaeobotany Conference, Tokyo, Japan.
Grimsson, F., Denk, T., & Zetter, R. (2012). Tracing the phytogeographic history of Northern Hemispheric angiosperms using fossils, tectonic evidence, and palaeoclimate. 30th Nordic Geological Winter Meeting, Reykjavík, Iceland.
Grimsson, F., Zetter, R., & Leng, Q. (2012). Diverse fossil Onagraceae pollen from a Miocene palynoflora of north-east China: early steps in resolving the phytogeographic history of the family. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 298(3), 671-687. doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0578-0
Denk, T., Grimsson, F., & Zetter, R. (2012). Fagaceae from the early Oligocene of Central Europe: Persisting new world and emerging old world biogeographic links. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 169, 7-20.
Grimsson, F., Ferguson, D-K., & Zetter, R. (2012). Morphological trends in the fossil pollen of Decodon and the paleobiogeographic history of the genus. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 173(3), 297-317.