419 / Paleozoic
Wattieza
Wattieza casasii
Eight-meter leafless crowns formed one of the earliest known forests.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 385 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Devonian
- Geographic range
- Floodplain forest · New York, USA
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Wattieza?
Wattieza (Wattieza casasii) was an extinct organism known from About 385 million years ago, with a range in Floodplain forest · New York, USA.
Life and ecology
Fern-like branch systems made an umbrella crown above shallow roots that already changed soil, shade and carbon cycling.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Wattieza disappear?
Plants with more complex roots spread during Devonian turnover, but this does not by itself show that they replaced this tree architecture.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Wattieza?
Upright Gilboa stumps, crowns and branch fossils jointly constrain the whole plant.
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