Gigantopterid seed plant — Evolsonia sp.

Geologic period: Early Permian — late Leonardian

Age: Early Permian.

Feeding: Photosynthetic plant.

Body plan: Large broad leaves with complex multi-order venation.

Evidence: Leaf shape and venation are directly preserved. The growth habit of the complete plant remains uncertain.

Why it matters: Evolsonia demonstrates that Permian plant communities included large broad-leaved seed plants with surprisingly complex vein networks.

Plain Language Identity: A broad-leaved Early Permian gigantopterid plant.

What You Are Looking At: A fossil leaf assigned at exhibit level to Evolsonia sp.

Ecosystem: Early Permian floodplain and abandoned-channel environments of north-central Texas.

Preservation: Leaf impression or compression.

Formation: Vale Formation / Clear Fork Group for described Evolsonia material.

Find Location: North-central Texas, United States.

Research History: Evolsonia texana was established by Smithsonian paleobotanist Sergius Mamay from Lower Permian Texas fossils.

Open Questions: The Smithsonian display identifies this object only as Evolsonia sp. Even though E. texana is the named species of the genus, we retain the exhibit's genus-level identity.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1989.tb15111.x; https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/76f6f8b1-1e60-4838-bb59-1b59c04fa81c/content

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title and scientific name matched; current research distinctions retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Evolsonia sp.

Evidence / representation: Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

The Permian World: Strange Bodies and the Great Dying.