Polypodium

Polypodium is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest species diversity in the tropics. The name is derived from Ancient Greek poly ("many") + podion, on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. They are commonly called polypodies or rockcap ferns, but for many species unique vernacular names exist.

Polypodium

André Karwath aka Aka · CC BY-SA 2.5 · 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
PolypodioideaePBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB, for Streptophyta

Time the record covers

At least 33 million years on record.

The record covers at least 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 42 occurrencesEocene — about 23 of 42 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 42 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 1 of 42 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 42 occurrencesPleistocene — about 7 of 42 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 2 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 2 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 2 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 2 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 2 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 2 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 2 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 2 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 8 occurrences33.9 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

42 occurrences of Polypodium on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

42 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

2 formations

John Day — 45.00°N, 120.20°WNanlin — 25.12°N, 98.83°E

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The named rock units Polypodium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 40 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

438 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 42 sites for Polypodium, and this reads all 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

8 references

Each of the 42 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. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Polypodium

Credit
André Karwath aka Aka
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Polypodium was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itPolypodioideae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1753