The curious case of Karl Nagalhard and the central European influence on the early studies on the Cenozoic paleobotany in Turkey

Abstract

Karl Nagalhard , formerly known as Karl Nagel, was a German paleobotanist whose identity remained obscured due to his surname and career change at a relatively young age. He was active in paleobotany between 1914-1922, then he transferred to another academic field; but even so, continued to study paleobotany throughout his life. The life and research of Nagalhard are evaluated here as a part of the history of Cenozoic paleobotany in Turkey, including a synopsis of the early coal industry. The first significant accounts with descriptions and illustrations on the subject were produced by Unger, Engelhardt and Nagalhard, respectively, emphasizing the significance of the German speaking Central European paleobotanists. As being the youngest among them, Nagalhard determined three taxa from Ağaçlı Florula in İstanbul and seven taxa from Yeniköy Florula in Kütahya, and provided valuable remarks on the biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment in his publication which is examined here for the first time almost after a century.