| Gosslingiaceae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Lycophytes |
| Plesion: | † Zosterophylls |
| Order: | † incertae sedis |
| Family: | † Gosslingiaceae |
| Genera | |
Gosslingiaceae is a family of extinct zosterophylls. The zosterophylls were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record, and are considered to share an ancestor with the living lycophytes. The family is variously placed in the order Sawdoniales [1] or the order Gosslingiales. [2]
Genera that have been placed in this family by Kenrick and Crane in 1997 and Hao and Xue in 2013 are shown in the table below.
| Genus | Included by Hao & Xue [2] | Included by Kenrick & Crane [1] |
|---|---|---|
| † Crenaticaulis Banks & Davis (1969) | yes | placed in Sawdoniaceae |
| † Gosslingia Heard (1927) | yes | yes |
| † Oricilla Gensel (1982) | yes | yes |
| † Sawdonia Hueber (1971) | yes | placed in Sawdoniaceae |
| † Tarella | unplaced as to family | yes |
The lycophytes, when broadly circumscribed, are a group of vascular plants that include the clubmosses. They are sometimes placed in a division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta or in a subdivision Lycopodiophytina. They are one of the oldest lineages of extant (living) vascular plants; the group contains extinct plants that have been dated from the Silurian. Lycophytes were some of the dominating plant species of the Carboniferous period, and included the tree-like Lepidodendrales, some of which grew over 40 metres (130 ft) in height, although extant lycophytes are relatively small plants.
The zosterophylls are a group of extinct land plants that first appeared in the Silurian period. The taxon was first established by Banks in 1968 as the subdivision Zosterophyllophytina; they have since also been treated as the division Zosterophyllophyta or Zosterophyta and the class or plesion Zosterophyllopsida or Zosteropsida. They were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record, and had a world-wide distribution. They were probably stem-group lycophytes, forming a sister group to the ancestors of the living lycophytes. By the late Silurian a diverse assemblage of species existed, examples of which have been found fossilised in what is now Bathurst Island in Arctic Canada.
Zosterophyllum was a genus of Silurian-Devonian vascular land plants with naked branching axes on which usually kidney-shaped sporangia were arranged in lateral positions. It is the type genus for the group known as zosterophylls, thought to be part of the lineage from which modern lycophytes evolved. More than 20 species have been described.
Crenaticaulis was an early genus of slender, dichotomously branching, leafless land plants, known from the Devonian period and first described in 1969. They were probably allied to the zosterophylls, and are assigned to subdivision Zosterophyllophytina, or class Zosterophyllopsida. They bore branches and scalariform tracheids.
The Sawdoniales are an order or plesion of extinct zosterophylls. The zosterophylls were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record, and share an ancestor with the living lycophytes. The group has been divided up in various ways. In their major cladistic study of early land plants, Kenrick and Crane placed most of the zosterophylls in the Sawdoniales.
Sawdonia is an extinct genus of early vascular plants, known from the Upper Silurian to the Lower Carboniferous. Sawdonia is best recognized by the large number of spikes (enations) covering the plant. These are vascular plants that do not have vascular systems in their enations. The first species of this genus was described in 1859 by Sir J. William Dawson and, was originally attributed to the genus Psilophyton. He named this plant Psilophyton princeps. In 1971 Francis Hueber proposed a new genus for this species due to its "Divergent technical characters from the generic description for Psilophyton." The holotype used for description is Dawson Collection Number 48, pro parte, Museum Specimen Number 3243. Sir J. William Dawson Collection, Peter Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Krithodeophyton is a genus of lower Devonian plant with branching axes. It is considered to be a barinophyte.
Hicklingia is a genus of extinct plants of the Middle Devonian. Compressed specimens were first described in 1923 from the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland. Initially the genus was placed in the "rhyniophytes", but this group is defined as having terminal sporangia, and later work showed that the sporangia of Hicklingia were lateral rather than strictly terminal, so that it is now regarded as having affinities with the zosterophylls.
Gumuia is a genus of extinct vascular plants of the Early Devonian. The genus was first described in 1989 based on fossil specimens from the Posongchong Formation, Wenshan district, Yunnan, China.
Hsua is a genus of extinct vascular plants, known from the Devonian. The name of the genus honours the Chinese palaeobotanist, Jen Hsü.
Thrinkophyton was a genus of Early Devonian land plant with branching axes. Known fossils are of Lochkovian to Pragian age.
Gosslingia was a genus of Early Devonian land plant with branching axes. Fossils have been from the Lochkovian to the Pragian, 419 to 408 million years ago.
Tarella was a genus of Early Devonian land plant with branching axes. Fossils came from Pragian age rocks.
Oricilla was a genus of Early Devonian land plant with branching axes. Fossils have been found from the Pragian to the Emsian.
Barinophyton was a genus of early land plant with branching axes. It is placed in a group of early vascular plants (tracheophytes), the barinophytes, a group that has been given various ranks and scientific names. Known fossils are of Devonian to Carboniferous age.
Protobarinophyton was a genus of Silu-Devonian land plant with branching axes. It is placed in a group of early vascular plants (tracheophytes), the barinophytes, a group that has been given various ranks and scientific names.
Wenshania is a genus of extinct vascular plants found in the Posongchong Formation, Yunnan, China, which is of Early Devonian age. Plants consisted of leafless stems with simple dichotomous branching, and bore spore-forming organs or sporangia all around the sides of stems. Wenshania is part of the broadly defined group of zosterophylls.
Gosslingiales is an order of extinct zosterophylls. The zosterophylls were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record, and share an ancestor with the living lycophytes. The group has been divided up in various ways. Hao and Xue in 2013 used the presence or absence of terminal sporangia as a major dividing feature. The order Zosterophyllales was used for species with terminal as well as lateral sporangia, which were considered to have determinate growth, with their sporangia generally being arranged in spikes. The paraphyletic order Gosslingiales was used for species without terminal sporangia, which were considered to have indeterminate growth, with fertile branches generally circinate. Species assignable to the Gosslingiales made up about 9% of all confirmed species in the Early Devonian flora.
Sawdoniaceae is a family of extinct zosterophylls. The zosterophylls were among the first vascular plants in the fossil record, and are considered to share an ancestor with the living lycophytes. The family is recognized by some sources, and placed in the Sawdoniales. Other sources do not recognize the family, and place some of its members in the family Gosslingiaceae.
The barinophytes are a group of extinct vascular plants (tracheophytes). Their relationship with other vascular plants is unclear. They have been treated as the separate class Barinophytopsida, the order Barinophytales of uncertain class and as a family or clade Barinophytaceae within the zosterophylls. They have also been considered to be possible lycopodiopsids.
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