''Sphenopteris'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of seed ferns containing the

foliage A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

of various

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s, ranging from the Devonian to Late Cretaceous. One species, ''S. höninghausi'', was transferred to the genus '' Crossotheca'' in 1911.

Biology

The

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

of ''Sphenopteris'' could be up to long.

Distribution

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, fossil of

form genus Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncertainty; the goal of sc ...

''Sphenopteris'' was located in outcrop ''Morro Papalé'' in the city of Mariana Pimentel. They are in the geopark Paleorrota in Rio Bonito Formation and date from

Sakmarian In the geologic timescale, the Sakmarian is an age or stage of the Permian period. It is a subdivision of the Cisuralian Epoch or Series. The Sakmarian lasted between 293.52 and million years ago (Ma). It was preceded by the Asselian and fo ...

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

.Afloramento Morro do Papaléo, Mariana Pimentel, RS
/ref> Fossils of ''Sphenopteris'' have also been found in the Valle Alto Formation, Caldas,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, among many other locations.''Sphenopteris''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cr ...

.org

References

External links

Jardin Botanico de Córdoba: Species tables
Pteridospermatophyta Prehistoric plant genera Devonian plants Carboniferous plants Mississippian plants Pennsylvanian plants Permian plants Triassic plants Jurassic plants Early Cretaceous plants Late Devonian first appearances Cretaceous extinctions Prehistoric plants of South America Fossils of Brazil Fossils of Colombia Jurassic Colombia Fossil taxa described in 1825 Fossils of Georgia (U.S. state) Late Cretaceous plants Paleozoic life of New Brunswick Paleozoic life of Newfoundland and Labrador Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Paleozoic life of Nunavut {{cretaceous-plant-stub