''Isoetes beestonii'' is the oldest known species of the living quillwort genus from the latest Permian of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. Originally considered earliest Triassic,
it is now known to be latest Permian in age, immediately before the
Permian Triassic
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleozo ...
mass extinction.
Description
''Isoetes beestonii'' is preserved as whole plants in life position within bedding planes, and presumably lived as an early successional weed in lake and pond sedimentary environments, like living ''
Isoetes
''Isoetes'', commonly known as the quillworts, is the only extant genus of plants in the family Isoetaceae, which is in the class of lycopods. There are currently 192 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution but with the individual sp ...
''. Its leaves were wider and more succulent than modern species of ''Isoetes''.
Like modern ''Isoetes'', fertile plants were little different from sterile plants, unlike Early Triassic ''
Tomiostrobus
''Tomiostrobus'' is an extinct quillwort genus from the Early Triassic of Australia, China and Russia, which was especially widespread in the aftermath of Permian Triassic mass extinctions.
Description
''Tomiostrobus australis'' is prese ...
'' which formed woody conelike fertile plants.
See also
*
Evolution of plants
The evolution of plants has resulted in a wide range of complexity, from the earliest algal mats, through multicellular marine and freshwater green algae, terrestrial bryophytes, lycopods and ferns, to the complex gymnosperms and angiosperms (fl ...
References
Permian plants
Prehistoric lycophytes
beestonii
{{permian-plant-stub