''Alethopteris'' is a prehistoric plant genus of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

Pteridospermatophyta (seed ferns) that developed in the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period (around ). It is in the family

Alethopteridaceae The Alethopteridaceae are a family of extinct plants belonging to Pteridospermatophyta The term Pteridospermatophyta (or "seed ferns" or "Pteridospermatopsida") is a polyphyletic group of extinct seed-bearing plants (spermatophytes). The earli ...

. The genus Alethopteris is among the seed ferns ( Pteridospermales), an extinct group of

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, ''Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμνό� ...

. Although their foliage resembled that of modern ferns, they reproduced by means of seeds. Alethopteris PAMuseum

References

Pteridospermatophyta Carboniferous plants Prehistoric plant genera Carboniferous first appearances Carboniferous extinctions Fossils of Georgia (U.S. state) Paleozoic life of New Brunswick Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Paleozoic life of Prince Edward Island Prehistoric plants of North America {{Carboniferous-plant-stub

See also

References