Florida Museum of Natural History
Manchester Lab
Led by Steven Manchester · Florida Museum of Natural History (Paleobotany)
What we study
The Manchester Lab studies the evolution of angiosperm families using paleobotanical investigations, analyzing fossils of flowers, fruits, pollen, leaves, and wood to understand their relationships. Collaborations span North America, Europe, and Asia.
What working here is like
- Fieldwork
- Wet lab
- No organisms (data only)
- Coding helps
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Investigating fossil seeds of the Paleocene of North America by means of micro‑CT scanning
The lab uses micro‑CT scanning to look inside fossilized seeds and fruits from a late‑Paleocene site in Wyoming, identifying over 500 plant fossils from about 115 rocks and confirming a warm, humid ancient environment.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 331
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Earliest evidence of animal-dispersed nuts in the Juglandaceae: Zodicarya gen. nov. from the Paleocene of North America and Early Eocene of England
2026 · Fossil Imprint
Describes early nut fossils from the Paleocene and Eocene, showing they resemble modern walnut and hickory nuts.
- Laurus macrocarpa Lesquereux from the mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Dakota Formation, USA, is a chlamydospermous seed, not an angiosperm fruit
2026 · Acta Palaeobotanica
Reclassifies a fossil seed from the Cretaceous as a chlamydosperm, not an angiosperm fruit.
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- Fossil palm reproductive axes from the K/Pg of central India: Reinterpretation of Callistemonites Bande, Mehrotra & Prakash based on micro-CT scanning
2026 · Cretaceous Research
- Identification guide for seeds with a single lateral wing
2026 · Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History
Creates a guide to identify winged seeds in plants, helping classify both living and extinct species.
- A mid‐Cretaceous monocot flower from the Dakota Sandstone of Kansas and its potential implications for the fossil record of palms
2026 · American Journal of Botany
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Steven Manchester hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.