Coniopteris

Coniopteris is an extinct genus of Mesozoic fern leaves. It was widespread over both hemispheres during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, with over 130 species having been described.^[1] Most species of Coniopteris probably had a herbaceous habit.^[1] Coniopteris laciniata had tufts of leaves sprouting from intervals of a thin, creeping rhizome.^[2] Coniopteris is traditionally assumed to have been a member of Dicksoniaceae (which are mostly tree ferns) or a close relative of Thyrsopteris. However, these affinites have been doubted by a number of authors. A 2020 cladistic analysis found it to be a stem group of Polypodiales, as many Coniopteris species share with these ferns vertically orientated and an incomplete annulus.^[1] However, this feature is not preserved among many Coniopteris species, and several species from the Northern Hemisphere a complete and obliquely orientated annulus, suggesting a Cyatheales (to which Dicksoniaceae belongs) affinity for at least these species, though they are alternatively suggested to be close to the base of Cyatheales.^[3] The genus is technically a junior synonym of the little used Polystichites, but was conserved by the ICZN in 2013.^[4] Some authors suggest a range of Early Jurassic-early Late Cretaceous for the genus,^[1] while others suggest a more expansive range spanning from the Middle Triassic to the Eocene.^[5]

Coniopteris
Coniopteris sp. from the Mecsek Coal Formation, Hungary, Hettangian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Subclass:	Polypodiidae
Genus:	†Coniopteris Brongniart 1849
Type species
Coniopteris murrayana Brongniart 1835
Species
C. bella Li, Xiu, Tan & Tian, 2023 C. burejensis Li, Xiu, Tan & Tian, 2023 C. frutiformis Douglas 1973 C. hymenophylloides Seward 1900 C. murrayana Brongniart 1835 †Coniopteris haifanggouensis Li & Tian in Li et al., 2025
Synonyms
Polystichites C. Presl in Sternberg, 1838