This article is about the ancient plant. For the ancient animal, see Archaeopteryx.
Archaeopteris
Temporal range: Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous
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Archaeopteris hibernica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Tracheophytes
Class:
†Progymnospermopsida
Order:
†Archaeopteridales
Family:
†Archaeopteridaceae
Genus:
†Archaeopteris Dawson (1871)
Species
Archaeopteris fissilis
Archaeopteris gaspiensis
Archaeopteris halliana
Archaeopteris hibernica
Archaeopteris macilenta
Archaeopteris notosaria
Archaeopteris obtusa
Archaeopteris sphenophyllifolia
Archaeopteris is an extinct genus of progymnosperm tree with fern-like leaves. A useful index fossil, this tree is found in strata dating from the Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous (383 to 323 million years ago), the oldest fossils being 385 million years old,[1] and had global distribution.
Until the 2007 discovery of Wattieza, many scientists considered Archaeopteris to be the earliest known tree. Bearing buds, reinforced branch joints, and branched trunks similar to today's wood, it is more reminiscent of modern seed-bearing trees than other spore bearing taxa; It combines characteristics of woody trees and herbaceous ferns, and belongs to the progymnosperms, a group of extinct plants with gymnosperm-like wood but that produce spores rather than seeds.
A reconstruction of Archaeopteris macilenta from the Late Devonian, Walton Formation of Hancock, New YorkA polished round of permineralised wood of Callixylon whiteanum from the Late Devonian Woodford Shale of Ada, Oklahoma
^Fossilized Roots Are Revealing the Nature of 385-Million-Year-Old Forests
gymnosperms. Archaeopteris reproduced by releasing spores rather than by producing seeds, but some of the species, such as Archaeopteris halliana were...
leaves. Archaeopteris macilenta leaves and fertile shoots are attached to wood which when permineralized is called Callixylon newberryi. Archaeopteris is retained...
New York State Museum discovered more fossils of Cladoxylopsida and Archaeopteris in a quarry in Cairo, New York. A recent (2017) discovery in Xinjiang...
previously oldest-known example—a root system probably belonging to Archaeopteris, discovered in 2009 near Cairo, New York—by about four million years...
trunks, fronds, and roots. The earliest tree was once thought to be Archaeopteris, which bears simple, fern-like leaves spirally arranged on branches...
present, including roots, leaves and secondary wood in trees such as Archaeopteris. The Carboniferous Period saw the development of forests in swampy environments...
of progymnosperms gave rise to the first really large trees known as Archaeopteris. The latest surviving group of progymnosperms is the Noeggerathiales...
ferns, from earlier progymnosperms), first trees (the progymnosperm Archaeopteris), and first winged insects (palaeoptera and neoptera). Strophomenid...
Middle Devonian (about 385 million years ago). Prior to this discovery, Archaeopteris was the earliest known tree. Both of these reproduced by spores rather...
the Aztec Siltstone, there is a strong indication that the trees were Archaeopteris-Callixylon. In upper New York State, there have been Devonian trees...
accompanied by the progymnosperms, including the first large trees Archaeopteris. The Late Devonian extinction probably also resulted in osteolepiform...
several separate lineages of vascular plants, in progymnosperms like Archaeopteris, in Sphenopsida, ferns and later in the gymnosperms and angiosperms...
Lepidodendron, showing dichotomous branching at the top of the trunk Archaeopteris Carboniferous Evolutionary history of plants Fossil Grove Glossopteris...
was later discovered to be a member of the same family as the genus Archaeopteris. It was a series of pieces that were eventually reconstructed to form...
cladoxylopsid plants like Calamophyton. Appeared in the Late Devonian, Archaeopteris was both tree-like and fern-like plant, growing to 20 metres (66 ft)...
the herbaceous genus Equisetum, the only living sphenophyte genus. Archaeopteris Elgorriaga, A.; Escapa, I.H.; Rothwell, G.W.; Tomescu, A.M.F.; Cúneo...
Devonian (~370 million years ago) some free-sporing plants such as Archaeopteris had secondary vascular tissue that produced wood and had formed forests...
greatly magnify the role of plants on the global scale. In particular, Archaeopteris forests expanded rapidly during the closing stages of the Devonian....
arborescent, woody vascular plant, the cladoxylopsids and progymnosperm Archaeopteris. These tracheophytes were able to grow to large size on dry land because...
land animal from Gondwana, and a diverse flora of plants including Archaeopteris notosaria, Africa's earliest woody tree. In addition to numerus undescribed...
D C P T J K Pg N Reconstruction of the extinct progymnosperm plant Archaeopteris macilenta based on fossils from the Catskill Mountains of New York....
have contributed to the Late Devonian extinction event as early tree archaeopteris drew down CO2 levels, leading to global cooling and lowered sea levels...
D C P T J K Pg N Reconstruction of the extinct progymnosperm plant Archaeopteris macilenta based on fossils from the Catskill Mountains of New York....
Name Species Location Age Notes Callixylon tree Archaeopteris Ada, Oklahoma, US 250,000,000 Discovered on a farm it was the largest example of a petrified...
demonstrated that the fossil wood known as Callixylon and the leaves known as Archaeopteris were actually part of the same plant. In 1917, he studied kukersite...
sandstones. There is a fossil assemblage containing Cyclostigma and Archaeopteris and Archaeopteris hibernica. Most of the county is principally limestone of the...
have true roots and leaves, and many were quite tall. The tree-like Archaeopteris, ancestral to the gymnosperms, and the giant cladoxylopsid trees had...
miospores are known from this member. Examples of which include Hostinella, Archaeopteris, Retusotriletes rugulatus, and Ancyrospora. Palynological studies indicate...
Labyrinthodontia, the group that now includes reptiles and mammals. Archaeopteris (fern-like trees), Tiktaalik (lungfish) walks on land. Ichthyostega...
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