Life › Seas, forests & the move to land › Pangaea supercontinent
Glossopteris
c. 299–252 million years ago· Fossil or site· Plants & fungi
Well establishedStrong fossil, genetic or geological evidence.
An extinct seed-bearing tree with tongue-shaped leaves whose fossils are spread across the southern continents.
See it on the Life map →What happened
Glossopteris ("tongue leaf") was a woody seed plant that dominated cool, wet, often swampy lowlands of Gondwana, the southern part of Pangaea, after the late Paleozoic ice age. It likely shed its leaves each winter at high latitudes. Its leaves and seeds are found in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica, and it formed much of the Permian coal of India, Australia and southern Africa. Robert Falcon Scott's doomed 1912 polar party hauled Glossopteris fossils from Antarctica. It vanished in the Great Dying.
Why it matters
Its spread across continents now separated by oceans was key evidence that they were once joined, supporting continental drift.
The evidence (fossils, genes, rocks)
Abundant leaf, root, wood and seed-organ fossils plus Gondwana's Permian coal; Eduard Suess and later Alfred Wegener used its distribution in their arguments.
Still debated
Its exact place among seed plants, including whether it was related to the ancestors of flowering plants, is debated.
Connections (3)
▸Seeds were borne by GlossopterisWell established
The connection
Glossopteris was a seed plant. Instead of releasing spores that need wet ground, it produced seeds on small structures attached to its leaves. Seeds let it reproduce through cold, seasonal climates, and it spread across the southern lands of Pangaea to become their dominant tree.
When and how
Gondwana (South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica), about 299–252 million years ago, in cool, swampy lowlands after the late Paleozoic ice age.
The evidence
Fossils show seed-bearing organs attached directly to Glossopteris leaves, and mineral-filled specimens from Antarctica and Australia preserve the seeds in detail.
Debates and open questions
How its seed organs were built and which other seed plants were its closest relatives are still debated.
▸Glossopteris grew across the south of Pangaea supercontinentWell established
The connection
Glossopteris fossils occur in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica. Its seeds were too large to float or blow across oceans, so it must have spread over connected land: Gondwana, the southern part of Pangaea. This pattern helped persuade geologists that the continents were once joined.
When and how
Gondwana, about 299–252 million years ago. Eduard Suess named Gondwana in 1885 partly from this flora; Alfred Wegener later cited it for continental drift.
The evidence
The fossil pattern, together with matching rock layers, ice-age deposits and rock magnetism, fits only if the southern continents were once connected.
Debates and open questions
Where Glossopteris first evolved and how quickly it spread across Gondwana are uncertain.
▸Glossopteris supplied key fossil evidence to Alfred WegenerWell established
The connection
Glossopteris, a seed fern with tongue-shaped leaves, left fossils in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica. Its large seeds could not have crossed oceans. Wegener argued that the simplest explanation was that these lands had once been joined, rather than linked by land bridges that later sank, as many geologists then proposed.
When and how
Wegener's 1915 book; Antarctic Glossopteris fossils were among the rocks hauled by Robert Falcon Scott's doomed polar party in 1912 and found with their bodies.
The evidence
Fossil collections on five southern landmasses; later dating and magnetic data confirmed these lands formed Gondwana until it began breaking up about 180 million years ago.
Debates and open questions
Little doubt remains about the link itself; botanists still debate exactly which other seed plants Glossopteris was related to.