Glossopteris (Greek glossa, meaning "tongue", because the leaves were tongue-shaped) is the largest and best-known genus of the extinct order of seed ferns known as Glossopteridales (or in some cases as Arberiales or Dictyopteridiales). Long considered a fern after its discovery in 1824, it was later assigned to the gymnosperms. The genus is placed in the division Pteridospermatophyta. In reality, many of the plant groups included within this division are only distantly related to one another. Artists illustration of a Devonian scene. ... The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 ± 0. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Kingdoms Animalia - Animals Fungi Plantae - Plants Protista Alternative phylogeny Unikonta Opisthokonta Amoebozoa Bikonta Apusozoa Cabozoa Rhizaria Excavata Corticata Archaeplastida Chromalveolata Animals, plants, fungi, and protists are eukaryotes (IPA: ), organisms whose cells are organized into complex structures by internal membranes and a cytoskeleton. ... The Archaeplastida are a major line of eukaryotes, comprising the land plants, green and red algae, and a small group called the glaucophytes. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta... Pteridospermatophyta, also called seed ferns, is an extinct gymnosperm division of the Plantae kingdom. ... Glossopteridales is an extinct order of plants belonging to Pteridospermatophyta, or Seed Ferns. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... The Dodo, shown here in a 1651 illustration by Jan Savery, is an often-cited[1] example of modern extinction. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... Pteridospermatophyta, also called seed ferns, is an extinct gymnosperm division of the Plantae kingdom. ... Glossopteridales is an extinct order of plants belonging to Pteridospermatophyta, or Seed Ferns. ... Classes Psilotopsida Equisetopsida Marattiopsida Pteridopsida (Polypodiopsida) this dnt make sense A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. ... Divisions Pinophyta (or Coniferophyta) - Conifers Ginkgophyta - Ginkgo Cycadophyta - Cycads Gnetophyta - Gnetum, Ephedra, Welwitschia The gymnosperms (Gymnospermae) are a group of spermatophyte seed-bearing plants with ovules on the edge or blade of an open sporophyll, the sporophylls usually arranged in cone-like structures. ... Pteridospermatophyta, also called seed ferns, is an extinct gymnosperm division of the Plantae kingdom. ...

Glossopteris should strictly be used to refer to the distinctive spathulate fossil leaves with reticulate venation, however, the term has also been used to refer to the parent plant as a whole. Glossopteris was a woody, seed-bearing shrub or tree, some apparently reaching 30 m tall. They had a softwood interior that resembles conifers of the family Araucariaceae. Seeds and pollen-containing organs were borne in clusters at the tips of slender stalks partially fused (adnate) to the leaves. The homologies of the flattened seed-bearing structures have remained particularly controversial with some arguing that the fertile organs represent megasporophylls (fertile leaves) whereas others have interpreted the structures as flattened, seed-bearing, axillary axes (cladodes). Genera Agathis Araucaria Wollemia The Araucariaceae are a very ancient family of conifers. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ...

They are believed to have grown in very wet soil conditions, similar to the modern Bald Cypress. The leaves ranged from about 2 cm to over 30 cm in length. Loess field in Germany Surface-water-gley developed in glacial till, Northern Ireland Technically, soil forms the pedosphere: the interface between the lithosphere (rocky part of the planet) and the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. ... Species Taxodium ascendens - Pond Cypress Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress Taxodium mucronatum - Montezuma Cypress Taxodium is a genus of one to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, one of several genera in the family commonly known as cypresses. ...

The Glossopteridales arose around the beginning of the Permian on the great southern continent of Gondwana. These plants went on to become the dominant elements of the southern flora through the rest of the Permian but disappeared in almost all places at the end of the Permian. The only convincing Triassic records are very earliest Triassic leaves from Nidpur in India, but even these records are somewhat questionable owing to faulting and complex juxtapositioning of Permian and Triassic strata at Nidpur. Although most modern palaeobotany textbooks cite the continuation of glossopterids into the later Triassic and, in some cases into the Jurassic, these ranges are erroneous and are based on misidentification of morphologically similar leaves such as Gontriglossa, Sagenopteris, or Mexiglossa. Glossopterids were, therefore, one of the major casualties of the Permian-Triassic mass-extinction event. The Permian is a geologic period that extends from about 299. ... Gondwanaland redirects here. ...

The profile of glossopterid trees is largely speculative as complete trees have not been preserved. However, based on analogies with modern high-latitude plants Glossopteris trees probably tapered upwards like a Christmas tree. Instead of needles, they had large, broad lance- or tongue-shaped leaves that fell to the ground at the end of summer. The fossilized tree rings in the Glossopteris trees reveal that they grew steadily each summer and abruptly stopped for winter. A Christmas tree from 1900. ...

More than 70 fossil species of this genus have been recognized in India alone, with additional species from South America, Australia, Africa, and Antarctica. Apart from those in India, only a few fossils from the northern hemisphere have been assigned to this group, but these are not identified with great certainty. For example, specimens assigned to Glossopteris from the far east of Russia in the 1960s are more likely to be misdentifications of other gymnosperms such as Pursongia. Confident assignment of fossil leaves to Glossopteris normally requires their co-preservation with the distinctive segmented roots of this group (called Vertebraria) or with the distinctive fertile organs. FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

Glossopteris leaves are morphologically simple so there are few characters that can be used to differentiate species. Consequently, many past researchers have considered the Permian Glossopteris flora to be rather homogeneous with the same species distributed throughout the southern hemisphere. However, more recent studies of the more morphologically diverse fertile organs has shown that taxa had limited regional distributions and several intra-gondwanan floristic provinces are recognizable. Nevertheless, several species of leaves found in Antarctica are common in the rocks of similar geologic age in India, located north of the equator and half a world away. Seeds, much too large to be windborne, could not have blown across thousands of miles of open sea, nor could they have floated across vast oceans. Facts such as these led the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess to deduce that there had once been a land bridge between these areas. He named this large land mass Gondwanaland (named after the district in India where the plant Glossopteris was found). These same facts would also lend support to Alfred Wegener's Continental drift theory. southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted). ... World map showing the equator in red In tourist areas, the equator is often marked on the sides of roads The equator marked as it crosses Ilhéu das Rolas, in São Tomé and Príncipe. ... Eduard Suess (August 20, 1831 – April 26, 1914) was a 19th century geologist who was an expert on the geography of the Alps. ... This article is about the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. ... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ...

References

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• Chandra, S. & Surange, K.R. 1979. Revision of the Indian species of Glossopteris. Monograph 2. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow. 301 pp.
• Davis, Paul and Kenrick, Paul; Fossil Plants. Smithsonian Books (in association with the Natural History Museum of London), Washington, D.C. (2004). ISBN 1-58834-156-9
• Gould, R. E. and Delevoryas, T., 1977. The biology of Glossopteris: evidence from petrified seed-bearing and pollen-bearing organs. Alcheringa, 1: 387-399.
• Pant DD 1977 The plant of Glossopteris. J Indian Bot Soc 56: 1-23.
• Pant, D.D. & Gupta, K.L. 1971. Cuticular structure of some Indian Lower Gondwana species of Glossopteris Brongniart. Part 2. - Palaeontographica, 132B: 130-152.
• Pant, D.D. & Nautiyal, D.D. 1987. Diphyllopteris verticellata Srivastava, the probable seedling of Glossopteris from the Paleozoic of India. - Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 51: 31-36.
• Pant, D.D. & Pant, R. 1987. Some Glossopteris leaves from Indian Triassic beds. - Palaeontographica, 205B: 165-178.
• Pant, D.D. & Singh, K.B. 1971. Cuticular structure of some Indian Lower Gondwana species of Glossopteris Brongniart. Part 3. - Palaeontographica, 135B: 1-40.
• Pigg, K. B. 1990. Anatomically preserved Glossopteris foliage from the central Transantarctic Mountains. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 66: 105-127.
• Pigg, K.B. & McLoughlin, S. 1997. Anatomically preserved Glossopteris leaves from the Bowen and Sydney basins, Australia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 97: 339-359.
• Plumstead, E.P. (1969), Three thousand million years of plant life in Africa. Alex L. du Toit Memorial Lecture no. 11. Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 72 (annex.): 1-72.
• Taylor, E.L, Taylor, T.N. & Collinson, J.W. 1989. Depositional setting and palaeobotany of Permian and Triassic permineralized peat from the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. - Internat. J. Coal Geol., 12: 657-679.