OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Seed plant — Glossopteris sp.

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier

Artist / Creator

James St. John

Date / Period

Permian · Permian. Glossopteris fossils from Gondwana span much of the period; this genus-level exhibit specimen is not given a more precise age here.

Object Type

leaves

Medium

unknown_needs_review

About This Object

Geologic period: Permian

Age: Permian. Glossopteris fossils from Gondwana span much of the period; this genus-level exhibit specimen is not given a more precise age here.

Feeding: Photosynthetic plant.

Body plan: Woody seed plant reconstructed from leaves, stems, roots and reproductive organs preserved separately.

Evidence: Leaves and other plant organs are direct fossils. Continental connection is inferred from geology, fossil distribution and plate-tectonic evidence.

Why it matters: Glossopteris is important both biologically and geologically. Its widespread fossils across now-separated southern continents became famous evidence that those lands were once connected within Gondwana.

Plain Language Identity: A member of the extinct Glossopteris seed-plant flora that dominated large parts of the southern supercontinent Gondwana during the Permian.

What You Are Looking At: Fossil leaves with the characteristic tongue-shaped Glossopteris form and branching, interconnected veins.

Ecosystem: Permian Gondwanan terrestrial forests.

Preservation: Leaf compression or impression.

Research History: Glossopteris fossils occur across South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica. Antarctic specimens were among the historically important discoveries supporting the reconstruction of Gondwana.

Open Questions: The Smithsonian object is Glossopteris sp.; do not assign a species unless its individual catalog record supports it.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3328030; https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/geography-and-geology/geology/antarctic-prehistory/

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

Scientific name: Glossopteris sp.

Evidence / representation: comparative_taxon_visual

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

comparative_taxon_visual

The Permian World: Strange Bodies and the Great Dying.

Provenance

Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Life Changes in the Permian

Visual source institution: Wikimedia Commons

Exhibition History

Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.

Collection & Credit

Media license: CC BY 2.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Subjects & Themes

Glossopteris sp. Permian leaves Life Changes in the Permian The Permian World

ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

This object page stays inside SAGE Museum. The Smithsonian link below is provided only as the original scholarly collection record. It opens separately.

VIEW ORIGINAL SMITHSONIAN RECORD ↗