Tools for Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs) analysis: A list of Quaternary NPP types and reference literature in English language (1972–2011)

A systematic study of Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs) from Quaternary sediments was begun in 1968 in the Hugo de Vries-Laboratory (Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics — IBED) at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Since the publication of the famous paper by Bas van Geel (1972), more than 1300 NPPs have been described and many of them have been identified as the remains of diaspores, cyanobacteria, algae, rhizopods, fungi, invertebrates, and chormophytes. In order to assess the current state of the art in the description of NPP types, in this paper I reviewed the “classical NPP literature” and the most recent literature as of November 2011, and I present a list of the described NPP types, as long as published in the English language. Full list of the NPP types and the related literature are available online as supplementary materials (.xls file) in this article's online version. The NPP type list is a new tool for NPP analysts and aims to widen the NPP research community, increase the number of identified NPP, and reduce the inconsistencies in naming the same microfossils.