504 / Mesozoic
Voltzia
Voltzia heterophylla
Leaves of different lengths on one shoot record an early stage of modern conifer architecture.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 247–237 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Triassic
- Geographic range
- River deltas and seasonal woodland · Europe
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Voltzia?
Voltzia (Voltzia heterophylla) was an extinct organism known from About 247–237 million years ago, with a range in River deltas and seasonal woodland · Europe.
Life and ecology
It colonized riverbanks and drier ground during Triassic ecosystem recovery and protected ovules in compact cones.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Voltzia disappear?
Conifers diversified later in the Triassic, but this does not by itself show that they replaced this combination of traits.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Voltzia?
Abundant shoots, cones and pollen organs make Voltzia important to conifer-origin studies.
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