Pallaviciniites Explained

The lowermost Upper Devonian fossil Pallaviciniites was for a time the oldest known liverwort until Metzgeriothallus was recovered from earlier Devonian strata.^[1]

It had a central axis, and bifurcated at its tips; similar fossils have been found in younger strata through to the Pleistocene.^[2] With the exception of its elongated axial conducting (non-vascular) cells, the thallus was a single cell thick.^[3] It had a serrated margin.^[4]

Prior to its discovery, the oldest known liverworts dated to the Lower Carboniferous.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Hernick . L. . Landing . E. . Bartowski . K. . Earth's oldest liverworts—Metzgeriothallus sharonae sp. Nov. From the Middle Devonian (Givetian) of eastern New York, USA . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology . 148 . 154–162 . 2008 . 2–4 . 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2007.09.002 . 2008RPaPa.148..154H .
2. Book: Topics in bryology . 978-81-7023-811-9 . Chopra, R. N . 1998. Allied Publishers .
3. Banks . H. . The oldest vascular land plants: A note of caution . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology . 20 . 13–69 . 1975 . 1–2 . 10.1016/0034-6667(75)90004-4 . 1975RPaPa..20...13B .
4. Hueber . F. M. . Hepaticites devonicus, a New Fossil Liverwort from the Devonian of New York . 2394879 . Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden . 48 . 2 . 125–131 . 1961 . 10.2307/2394879.