Paleobotanists - Fossil Groups of Plants

Fossil Groups of Plants

Some plants have remained remarkedly unchanged throughout earth's geological time scale. Early ferns had developed by the Mississippian, conifers by the Pennsylvanian. Some plants of prehistory are the same ones around today and are thus living fossils, such as Ginkgo biloba and Sciadopitys verticillata. Other plants have changed radically, or have gone extinct entirely.

Examples of prehistoric plants are:

  • Araucaria mirabilis
  • Archaeopteris
  • Calamites
  • Dillhoffia
  • Glossopteris
  • Hymenaea protera
  • Nelumbo aureavallis
  • Pachypteris
  • Palaeoraphe
  • Peltandra primaeva
  • Protosalvinia
  • Trochodendron nastae

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