what is a glossopteris?
Glossopteris was a seed fern that was widely distrubuted over the southern land masses during the Permian and Triassic geologic ages (roughly 300 to 200 million years ago). The name derives from the latin glossa, meaning tongue, in reference to the shape of the leaves which are the most common part of the plant to be fossilised, and pteridosperm which describes it as a seed fern.
This particular fossil was an important element of James' (Glossopteris Web Design & Development Pty Ltd. founder) honours study in the Dept of Geology at Sydney University under Dr Roger Buick. So it has some sentimental value.
Glossopteris was the most common genus of the group Glossopteridales, which incorporated some 70 different species, found across all the current southern continents, Antartica, Australia, South Africa and South America. Thus it formed an important piece of palaeobiogeographical evidence in proving that the continents had indeed drifted over time and had been aggregated at one point, leading Austrian geologist Eduard Suess to name that large land mass Gondwanaland.
The shape of the Glossopteris plant, shown in the image on the left (from the University of Bonn, Palaeontology) was thought to be a shrub or tree around 4-6m in height and deciduous. For more information please see the following sites;