HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Matoniaceae is one of the three
families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
of ferns in the
Gleicheniales :''This article defines the Gleicheniales in a loose sense. For the restricted definition, see Gleicheniaceae.'' Gleicheniales is an order of ferns in the subclass Polypodiidae (the leptosporangiate ferns). The Gleicheniales have records potent ...
order of the
Polypodiopsida A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...
class. Fossil records reveal that Matoniaceae ferns were abundant during the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...
era (about 250-million to 66-million years ago), during which they lived on every continent, including
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
, with eight genera and 26 species, with the oldest known specimens being from the
Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...
of Antarctica. Today the family is much less abundant, and also less diverse, with only two extant genera and four species, which are limited to portions of southeastern Asia. The following diagram shows a likely phylogenic relationship with the other two families of the Gleicheniales.


Extant taxa

* genus ** species ** species * genus ** species ** species


Mesozoic subtaxa

Some common Mesozoic Matoniaceae genera and a sampling of their species include: * genus ** species ** species * genus ** species ** species ** species ** species ** species * genus * genus Nagalingum & Cantrill: Early Cretaceous Gleicheniaceae and Matoniaceae (Gleicheniales) from Alexander Island, Antarctica
''Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology'' 138 (2006)
** species ** species ** species ** species ** species * genus ''
Microdictyon ''Microdictyon'' is an extinct armoured worm-like animal coated with net-like scleritic plates, known from the Early Cambrian Maotianshan shale of Yunnan China and other parts of the world. ''Microdictyon'' is part of the ill-defined taxon &ndas ...
'' * genus *'' Tomaniopteris'' Klavins et al.
Fremouw Formation The Fremouw Formation is a Triassic-age rock formation in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It contains the oldest known fossils of tetrapods from Antarctica, including synapsids, reptiles and amphibians. Fossilized trees have also been ...
, Middle Triassic, Antarctica *'' Konijnenburgia'' Kvaček et Dašková, 2010 Piedra Clavada Formation, Argentina,
Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2549255 Gleicheniales Fern families