Coniopteris

Coniopteris is an extinct genus of Mesozoic fern leaves. It was widespread over both hemispheres during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, with over 130 species having been described. Most species of Coniopteris probably had a herbaceous habit. Coniopteris laciniata had tufts of leaves sprouting from intervals of a thin, creeping rhizome. Coniopteris is traditionally assumed to have been a member of Dicksoniaceae or a close relative of Thyrsopteris. However, these affinites have been doubted by a number of authors. A 2020 cladistic analysis found it to be a stem group of Polypodiales, as many Coniopteris species share with these ferns vertically orientated and an incomplete annulus. However, this feature is not preserved among many Coniopteris species, and several species from the Northern Hemisphere a complete and obliquely orientated annulus, suggesting a Cyatheales affinity for at least these species, though they are alternatively suggested to be close to the base of Cyatheales. The genus is technically a junior synonym of the little used Polystichites, but was conserved by the ICZN in 2013. Some authors suggest a range of Early Jurassic-early Late Cretaceous for the genus, while others suggest a more expansive range spanning from the Middle Triassic to the Eocene.

Coniopteris

Maria Barbacka, Evelyn Kustatscher & Emese R. Bodor · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CyatheaceaePBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB, for Streptophyta

Time the record covers

At least 151 million years on record.

The record covers at least 251.902 Mya to 100.5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 283.3 Mya to 93.9 Mya.

Permian — about 4 of 1177 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 3 of 1177 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 1 of 1177 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 11 of 1177 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 208 of 1177 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 616 of 1177 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 229 of 1177 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 98 of 1177 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 8 of 1177 occurrences287–281 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences281–274 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences274–267 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences267–261 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences261–254 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences254–248 Mya — about 3 occurrences248–241 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences241–235 Mya — about 1 occurrence235–228 Mya — about 2 occurrences228–221 Mya — about 1 occurrence221–215 Mya — about 1 occurrence215–208 Mya — about 1 occurrence208–202 Mya — about 5 occurrences202–195 Mya — about 37 occurrences195–189 Mya — about 44 occurrences189–182 Mya — about 54 occurrences182–175 Mya — about 66 occurrences175–169 Mya — about 318 occurrences169–162 Mya — about 287 occurrences162–156 Mya — about 80 occurrences156–149 Mya — about 78 occurrences149–143 Mya — about 91 occurrences143–136 Mya — about 12 occurrences136–130 Mya — about 8 occurrences130–123 Mya — about 15 occurrences123–116 Mya — about 23 occurrences116–110 Mya — about 21 occurrences110–103 Mya — about 12 occurrences103–97 Mya — about 10 occurrences97–90 Mya — about 3 occurrences251.902 Mya100.5 Mya287 Mya90 Mya

1,177 occurrences of Coniopteris on record, most of them in the Middle Jurassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,177 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

309 formations

Kootenai — 47.48°N, 111.37°WKrivorechenskaya — 64.48°N, 168.92°ESaltwick — 54.40°N, 1.00°WSaltwick — 54.50°N, 0.75°WSaltwick — 54.30°N, 0.40°WSaltwick — 54.37°N, 1.25°WSaltwick — 54.33°N, 0.50°WDzharsu Suite — 44.20°N, 52.50°EDzharsu Suite — 44.40°N, 51.30°EDzharsu Suite — 43.10°N, 54.90°EDzharsu Suite — 44.20°N, 51.90°EChengzhi — 45.90°N, 133.00°EItat — 56.10°N, 93.10°EItat — 56.40°N, 93.20°EItat — 56.30°N, 90.50°EItat — 57.50°N, 88.50°ETyumen' Suite — 58.30°N, 83.00°ETyumen' Suite — 57.00°N, 74.90°ETyumen' Suite — 58.90°N, 81.80°ETyumen' Suite — 55.00°N, 73.40°ETyumen' Suite — 55.20°N, 76.00°ETyumen' Suite — 57.10°N, 65.40°EErbek Suite — 51.60°N, 94.20°EErbek Suite — 51.50°N, 95.50°ELower Dzhizhikrut Suite — 39.20°N, 68.50°ELongjiagou — 34.20°N, 105.10°ELongjiagou — 33.60°N, 104.80°ELongjiagou — 33.90°N, 106.50°EKaradiirmen' Suite — 44.10°N, 52.20°EKaradiirmen' Suite — 43.10°N, 54.90°EKaradiirmen' Suite — 43.60°N, 53.60°EFuxing — 42.00°N, 121.50°EFuxing — 42.30°N, 123.90°EFuxing — 42.30°N, 119.00°EBhuj — 23.22°N, 69.74°EBhuj — 23.20°N, 69.56°EBhuj — 23.08°N, 69.32°EBhuj — 23.48°N, 69.27°EBhuj — 23.60°N, 69.00°EBhuj — 23.39°N, 71.09°EBhuj — 23.32°N, 69.77°EBhuj — 23.37°N, 69.71°EBhuj — 23.21°N, 70.08°ECloughton — 54.30°N, 0.40°WCloughton — 54.17°N, 0.25°WYanan — 40.30°N, 110.00°EYanan — 35.00°N, 106.90°EYanan — 39.00°N, 108.00°EYanan — 41.00°N, 112.50°EOzhogino Suite — 66.40°N, 149.50°EOzhogino Suite — 66.10°N, 148.90°EOzhogino Suite — 65.60°N, 149.40°EUpper Tanasha Suite — 44.50°N, 51.60°EUpper Tanasha Suite — 43.10°N, 54.10°EUpper Tanasha Suite — 43.30°N, 53.60°EUpper Dep Suite — 52.90°N, 127.60°EUpper Dep Suite — 53.10°N, 127.30°EUpper Dep Suite — 53.10°N, 127.90°EUpper Gring Suite — 38.20°N, 70.40°EBalabansai — 40.80°N, 73.40°EBalabansai — 40.00°N, 70.50°EYushanjian — 30.30°N, 119.70°EYushanjian — 29.30°N, 119.50°EYushanjian — 29.70°N, 120.20°EAyak Suite — 52.90°N, 127.70°EAyak Suite — 53.40°N, 127.90°EUpper Osinniki Suite — 54.50°N, 87.40°EUpper Osinniki Suite — 54.50°N, 87.20°EUpper Osinniki Suite — 54.50°N, 86.80°EZhiluo — 40.30°N, 110.00°EZhiluo — 38.90°N, 106.50°EZhiluo — 35.10°N, 109.00°EZhiluo — 38.90°N, 105.60°E

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The named rock units Coniopteris has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 285 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 213 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Coniopteris and its relatives

Middle Jurassic

Where Coniopteris and its relatives were recorded in the Middle Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

364 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 574 sites for Coniopteris, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

187 references

Each of the 1,177 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 175 further references are not listed. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Coniopteris

Credit
Maria Barbacka, Evelyn Kustatscher & Emese R. Bodor
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Coniopteris was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCyatheaceae through timeFormations of the Middle JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brongniart 1849