Virtual Collection: Protracheophytes and Early Tracheophytes

This virtual collection was last curated by Elizabeth Hermsen and Jonathan Hendricks on August 15, 2019. Each model is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Unless otherwise indicated, each model was created by Emily Hauf using specimens at the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York.

Rhyniophytes (simple polysporangiophytes)


A fossil specimen of Rhynie Chert from the Devonian of Scotland. This block shows axes of an early polysporangiophyte plant, probably Aglaophyton or Rhynia. Specimen is from the Cornell University Paleobotanical Collection (CUPC), Ithaca, New York (#1666). Length of specimen is approximately 21 cm.

Zosterophyllophytes (lycophyte relatives)

Order Sawdoniales


Fossil specimens of the early vascular land plant Sawdonia sp.; locality unknown, but presumably from the Paleozoic. Sawdonia is a zosterophyllophyte, a group of Silurian to Devonian plants related to lycophytes. Zosterophyllophytes lacked true leaves, but can be linked to lycophytes by the presence of lateral sporangia and exarch xylem maturation. Specimen is from the Cornell University Paleobotanical Collection (CUPC), Ithaca, New York (#1698). Length of specimen is approximately 24 cm. Model by Emily Hauf.