Glossopteris

Glossopteris was a genus of seed fern that lived during the Permian period, about 300 million years ago. It had large, broad leaves with a distinctive tongue-shaped appearance and produced seeds instead of spores, making it a key transitional plant between ferns and flowering plants. Glossopteris fossils are found across several now-separated continents, such as Africa, South America, Antarctica, India, and Australia. This widespread distribution helped scientists understand that these landmasses were once connected as part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, providing important evidence for the theory of plate tectonics.