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Protosalvinia
A fossil of Protosalvinia furcata from Devonian shale of Kentucky, USA.
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Unknown Class: Unknown Order: Unknown Family: Unknown Genus: Protosalvinia
Species
Protosalvinia arnoldii † Protosalvinia braziliensis † Protosalvinia furcata † Protosalvinia ravenna †

Protosalvinia is a prehistoric plant found commonly in shale from shoreline habitats of the Upper Devonian period. The name Protosalvinia is a misnomer. The name literally means early Salvinia, and was given in the erroneous belief that the fossils were an earlier form of the living aquatic fern Salvinia. It is no longer believed that the fossils come from a fern, but deciding exactly what the fossils represent is still a matter of debate. This is surprising when one considers how much is known about the fossils.

The most likely interpretation of Protosalvinia is that it represents either a fossil liverwort or brown alga. The living plant was a thallus with short dichotomous branching. The branches in the largest species were as much as one centimeter across. In some fossils, the branching lobes lie flat, but in others the tips of the branches are curled up over the fossil, giving it a round outline. Embedded in the tissues of the thallus are chambers in which spores (200 micrometre diameter) were produced by meiosis.

Microscope slide mount of Protosalvinia sp. showing bifurcating thallus.

Because Protosalvinia is usually preserved as a compression fossil, it can be difficult to determine whether its anatomy is more like a plant or an alga. Some biochemical evidence favors interpretation as an alga. The grouping of the spores found in the thallus favors interpretation as a plant. The absence of any stomata on the surface is inconclusive, as all bryophytes lack stomata on the main body of the plant. For the present, the relationships of Protosalvinia remain uncertain.

• Kenrick, Paul & Crane, Peter R. (1997). The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-730-8.
• Stewart, Wilson N. & Rothwell, Gar W. (1993). Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-38294-7.
• Taylor, Thomas N. & Taylor, Edith L. (1993). The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-651589-4.