480 / Paleozoic
Archaeocalamites
Archaeocalamites radiatus
Hollow jointed stems let an early horsetail relative grow as a tall shrub or small tree.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 359–323 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Riverbanks and floodplains · Euramerica
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Archaeocalamites?
Archaeocalamites (Archaeocalamites radiatus) was an extinct organism known from About 359–323 million years ago, with a range in Riverbanks and floodplains · Euramerica.
Life and ecology
Rhizomes produced stands of upright stems with whorled branches on flood-prone banks and deltas.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Archaeocalamites disappear?
Larger calamiteans and later coal-forest plants became widespread, but this does not by itself show that they replaced this early architecture.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Archaeocalamites?
Jointed stems, branches, leaves and cones establish its sphenopsid identity.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS