Gigantopteridales
| Gigantopterids Temporal range: Asselian to Late Permian |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pteridospermatophyta |
| Order: | Gigantopteridales (disputed) |
| Family: |
Gigantopteridaceae (disputed) Koidz. |
| Genera | |
|
See text |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Gigantonomiales S.Meyen |
|
See text
Gigantonomiales S.Meyen
Gigantopterids (Gigantopteridales) is the name given to fossils of a group of plants existing in the Permian period, some 299 to 252 million years ago. Gigantopterids were among the most advanced land plants of the Paleozoic Era and disappeared soon after the massive Permian–Triassic extinction event 251.4 million years ago. Though some lineages of these plants managed to persist initially, they either disappeared entirely or adapted radically, evolving into undetermined descendants, as surviving life prospered again in much-altered ecosystems. One hypothesis proposes that at least some "gigantopterids" became the ancestors of angiosperms and/or Bennettitales and/or Caytoniales.
Gigantopterid fossils were documented as early as 1883, but only investigated more thoroughly in the early 20th century. Some of their most significant evidence was initially found in Texas, but they might have been present worldwide. Another key region for gigantopterid fossils is in China, and the consolidation of all major continents into Pangea would have allowed for easy global dispersal. They were among the most striking and important plants of the Cathaysian flora of Sino-Malaya, also called Gigantopteris flora to reflect this.
They bore many of the traits of flowering plants, but are not known to have flowered themselves. Gigantopterid plants had simple, bilaterally symmetrical leaf structures, woody stems and spines. They grew new parts by producing shoots, like flowering plants. Judging from the fossil remains, they were probably robust plants with fronds that resembled fern fronds when young. When mature they were more like flowering plant leaves with reticulate venation arranged in a frond. Gigantopteris nicotianaefolia for example is named thus because each of its leaflets resembles a tobacco leaf in shape.
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