''Pseudoctenis'' is a genus of fossil foliage attributable to the

Cycadales Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...

. It is one of the most common genera of cycad fossil foliage in the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by

Albert Seward Sir Albert Charles Seward FRS (9 October 1863 – 11 April 1941) was a British botanist and geologist. Life Seward was born in Lancaster. His first education was at Lancaster Grammar School and he then went on to St John's College, Cambrid ...

based on material from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

. Although he did not publish a diagnosis for the genus, he noticed the similarity with the genus '' Ctenis'', stating that the main difference between the two is the absence of

anastomoses An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal ...

in ''Pseudoctenis''. A 2023 study found this genus to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, with various species closely related to '' Ctenis'',

Cycadaceae ''Cycas'' is a genus of plants belonging to a very ancient lineage, the Cycadophyta, which are not closely related to palms, ferns, trees or any other modern group of plants. They are evergreen perennial plant, perennials which achieved their maxi ...

, and

Zamiaceae The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America. ...

References

Plants described in 1911 Cycads Prehistoric gymnosperm genera {{cretaceous-plant-stub