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Seed Ferns
Pteridospermatophyta, also called pteridosperms or seed ferns, are a polyphyletic grouping of extinct Spermatophyte, seed-producing plants. The earliest fossil evidence for plants of this type are the Lyginopteridales, lyginopterids of late Devonian age. They flourished particularly during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. Pteridosperms declined during the Mesozoic Era and had mostly disappeared by the end of the Cretaceous Period, though ''Komlopteris'' seem to have survived into Eocene times, based on fossil finds in Tasmania. With regard to the enduring utility of this division (botany), division, many palaeobotanists still use the pteridosperm grouping in an informal sense to refer to the seed plants that are not angiosperms, coniferoids (conifers or cordaites), Ginkgoaceae, ginkgophytes (ginkgos or czekanowskiales), cycadophytes (cycads or Bennettitales, bennettites), or gnetophytes. This is particularly useful for extinct seed plant groups whose systematic relationship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago (Megaannum, Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding Carboniferous period at Ma. It is the fourth period of both the Paleozoic and the Phanerozoic. It is named after Devon, South West England, where rocks from this period were first studied. The first significant evolutionary radiation of history of life#Colonization of land, life on land occurred during the Devonian, as free-spore, sporing land plants (pteridophytes) began to spread across dry land, forming extensive coal forests which covered the continents. By the middle of the Devonian, several groups of vascular plants had evolved leaf, leaves and true roots, and by the end of the period the first seed-bearing plants (Pteridospermatophyta, pteridospermatophyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginkgoales
Ginkgoales are a gymnosperm Order (biology), order containing only one Neontology, extant species: ''Ginkgo biloba'', the ginkgo tree. The order has a long fossil record extending back to the Early Permian around 300 million years ago from fossils found worldwide. The Order (biology), order was a common component of Permian and Triassic flora before the super dominance of Conifer, conifers. Evolution Ginkgophyta and Cycadophyta have a very ancient divergence dating to the early Carboniferous. The earliest representative of the group in the fossil record is probably ''Trichopitys'' from the Asselian (299-293 million years ago) of France. The earliest representatives of ''Ginkgo'', represented by reproductive organs similar to the living species, first appear in the Middle Jurassic, alongside other, related forms such as ''Yimaia'' and ''Karkenia'', which have differently arranged reproductive structures and seeds associated with ''Ginkgo''-like leaves. The diversity of Ginkgoal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the List of islands by area#Islands, 26th-largest island in the world, and the List of islands of Tasmania, surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's smallest and least populous state, with 573,479 residents . The List of Australian capital cities, state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40% of the population living in the Greater Hobart area. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2017. Tasmania is the most decentralised state in Australia, with the lowest proportion of its residents living within its capital city. Tasmania's main island was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples, who today generally identify as Palawa or Pakana. It is believed that Abori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komlopteris
''Komlopteris'' is an extinct genus of "seed fern" with possible corystosperm affinities. Fossils have been found across both hemispheres, dating from the latest Triassic to the early Eocene (Ypresian), making it the youngest "seed fern" in the fossil record. Morphology Within the form classification system used in paleobotany, ''Komlopteris'' is used to refer to leaves. The leaves are generally lanceolate to slightly falcate, though some are Ovate (botany), ovate, and form a Pinnation, pinnate arrangement, and are sometimes bipinnate. The cuticles are thick, with at least some having resin bodies within the leaves. Ecology Gondwanan ''Komlopteris'' species are often associated with fern dominated, humid temperate forested habitats. The finding of numerous leaves of ''Komlopteris'' in single leaf mat layers suggests that at least some species were deciduous. A 1998 study suggested that the type species ''Komlopteris nordenskioeldii'' likely grew as a tree, based on the presenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin , 'chalk', which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation . The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high Sea level#Local and eustatic, eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow Inland sea (geology), inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was largely ice-free, although there is some evidence of brief periods of glaciation during the cooler first half, and forests extended to the poles. Many of the dominant taxonomic gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs, and of Gymnosperm, gymnosperms such as cycads, ginkgoaceae and Araucariaceae, araucarian conifers; a hot Greenhouse and icehouse earth, greenhouse climate; and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea. The Mesozoic is the middle of the three eras since Cambrian explosion, complex life evolved: the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic. The era began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, and ended with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, another mass extinction whose victims included the non-avian dinosaurs, Pterosaur, pterosaurs, Mosasaur, mosasaurs, and Plesiosaur, plesiosaurs. The Mesozoic was a time of significant tectonic, climatic, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 251.902 Mya. It is the sixth and last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the Perm Governorate, region of Perm in Russia. The Permian witnessed the diversification of the two groups of amniotes, the synapsids and the Sauropsida, sauropsids (reptiles). The world at the time was dominated by the supercontinent Pangaea, which had formed due to the collision of Euramerica and Gondwana during the Carboniferous. Pangaea was surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa. The Carboniferous rainforest collapse left behind vast regions of desert within the continental interior. Amniotes, which could better cope with these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spermatophyte
A seed plant or spermatophyte (; New Latin ''spermat-'' and Greek ' (phytón), plant), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. land plant) that includes most of the familiar land plants, including the flowering plants and the gymnosperms, but not ferns, mosses, or algae. The term ''phanerogam'' or ''phanerogamae'' is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek (), meaning "visible", in contrast to the term "cryptogam" or "cryptogamae" (, and (), 'to marry'). These terms distinguish those plants with hidden sexual organs (cryptogamae) from those with visible ones (phanerogamae). Description The extant spermatophytes form five divisions, the first four of which are classified as gymnosperms, plants that have unenclosed, "naked seeds": * Cycadophyta, the cycads, a subtropical and tropical group of plants, * Ginkgophyta, which includes a single living species of tree in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies, which are explained as a result of convergent evolution. The arrangement of the members of a polyphyletic group is called a polyphyly .. [Source for pronunciation.] It is contrasted with monophyly and paraphyly. For example, the biological characteristic of warm-bloodedness evolved separately in the ancestors of mammals and the ancestors of birds; "warm-blooded animals" is therefore a polyphyletic grouping. Other examples of polyphyletic groups are algae, C4 photosynthesis, C4 photosynthetic plants, and Xenarthra#Evolutionary relationships, edentates. Many taxonomists aim to avoid homoplasies in grouping taxa together, with a goal to identify and eliminate groups that are found to be polyphyletic. This is often the stimulus for major re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidopteris
''Lepidopteris'' ("scaly fern") is a form classification, form genus for leaves of Peltaspermaceae, an extinct family of seed plants, which lived from around 260 to 190 million years ago, from the Late Permian to Early Jurassic. Fossils of the genus have been found across both hemispheres. Nine species are currently recognized.''Lepidopteris'' was a common and widespread seed fern, which survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event but was largely wiped out by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. ''Lepidopteris callipteroides'' is especially common between the first two episodes of the Permian-Triassic extinction event, and ''L. ottonis'' forms a comparable acme zone immediately before the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. ''Lepidopteris'' would persist into the Early Jurassic in Patagonia, represented by the species ''Lepidopteris scassoi.'' Description In the form generic system of paleobotany ''Lepidopteris'' is used only for leaves, which are fern-like with pinnules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordaitales
Cordaitales are an extinct order of gymnosperms, known from the early Carboniferous to the late Permian. Many Cordaitales had elongated strap-like leaves, resembling some modern-day conifers of the Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae. They had cone-like reproductive structures reminiscent of those of modern conifers. Some Cordaitales formed large trees that seem to have been particularly abundant on drier ground, in tropical environments. Also, some tall trees but also shrubby and mangrove-like species of Cordaitales seem to have grown in the Carboniferous coal swamps. Cordaitales were also abundant during the 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 251.902 Mya. It is the s .... Common genera from the Carboniferous include '' Mesoxylon'' and '' Cordaixylon''. Other genera are '' Noeggerathio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czekanowskiales
Czekanowskiales, also known as Leptostrobales, are an extinct group of seed plants. Members of the family are distinguished by persistent leaves borne on deciduous short shoots, subtended by scale-like leaves. The leaves are highly dissected (divided into partitions). They likely grew as trees and shrubs. The main ovulate structure of Czekanowskiales, '' Leptostrobus,'' consists of bivalved seed-bearing round capsule-like structures arranged along a long axis. The fossil record of Czekanowskiales is largely confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and they inhabited warm-temperate and temperate climates under humid conditions. The oldest possible records of the group are ovulate cones from the Late Permian of Italy, but the group is primarily known from the Late Triassic onwards, and were abundant during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Only a handful of species are known from the Late Cretaceous, confined to the northern Russian Far East, corresponding to the decline of other seed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
