Voltziales is an extinct
order of
conifers. The group contains the ancestral lineages from which all modern conifer groups emerged. The earliest Voltzialean conifers appear in the Late
Carboniferous (
Pennsylvanian). Modern conifer lineages emerged from voltzialean ancestors from the Late
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), 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 ...
to
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and 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 Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
.
Voltzialean conifers outside modern groups, such as ''
Krassilovia'', known from the leaf taxon ''
Podozamites
''Podozamites'' is an extinct genus of fossil conifer leaves. In its broader sense, it has been used as a morphogenus ( form taxon) to refer to any broad leaved multi-veined conifer leaves. Modern broad-leaved conifers with a similar form include ...
'', that survived into the late Cretaceous. One of the earliest and most primitive genera is ''
Walchia
''Walchia'' is a fossil conifer, Cupressaceae, cypress-like genus found in upper Pennsylvanian (geology), Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) and lower Permian (about 310-290 Mya (unit), Mya) rocks of Europe and North America. A forest of In situ, in-s ...
'', known originally for its leaf
form genus, and primitive members of the order are commonly called "Walchian conifers".
The order consists of these families:
*
Utrechtiaceae
*
Thucydiaceae
*
Voltziaceae
*
Emporiaceae
*
Majonicaceae
*
Ullmanniaceae
*
Bartheliaceae
*
Ferugliocladaceae
*
Buriadiaceae
*
Krassiloviaceae
The genus ''Voltzia'' was named in honour of the French geologist
Philippe Louis Voltz.
References
External links
Voltziales (palaeos.org)
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1136812
Prehistoric plant orders