Editing Archaeopteris (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[John William Dawson]] described the genus in 1871. The name derives from the [[ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἀρχαῖος|ἀρχαῖος]]}} (''archaīos'', "ancient"), and {{lang|grc|[[wikt:πτέρις|πτέρις]]}} (''ptéris'', "fern"). ''Archaeopteris'' was originally classified as a [[fern]], and it remained classified so for over 100 years. In 1911, [[Russia]]n paleontologist [[Mikhail Zalessky|Mikhail Dimitrievich Zalessky]] described a new type of [[petrified wood]] from the [[Donets Basin]] in modern [[Ukraine]]. He called the wood ''Callixylon'', though he did not find any structures other than the trunk. The similarity to [[conifer]] wood was recognized. It was also noted that ferns of the genus ''Archaeopteris'' were often found associated with [[fossil]]s of ''Callixylon''.

In the 1960s, [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] Charles B. Beck was able to demonstrate that the fossil wood known as ''Callixylon'' and the leaves known as ''Archaeopteris'' were actually part of the same plant.<ref name="Beck1960">{{cite journal |doi = 10.2307/2805124 |author = Beck, CB |year = 1960 |title = The identity of ''Archaeopteris'' and ''Callixylon''. |journal = Brittonia |volume = 12 |issue = 4 |pages = 351–368 |jstor = 2805124|bibcode = 1960Britt..12..351B |s2cid = 27887887 }}</ref><ref  name="Beck1962">{{cite journal |doi = 10.2307/2439077 |author = Beck, CB |year = 1962 |title = Reconstruction of ''Archaeopteris'' and further consideration of its phylogenetic position. |jstor = 2439077 |journal = American Journal of Botany |volume = 49 |issue = 4 |pages = 373–382|hdl = 2027.42/141981 |url = https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141981/1/ajb214953.pdf |hdl-access = free }}</ref> It was a plant with a mixture of characteristics not seen in any living plant, a link between true [[gymnosperm]]s and ferns.

The genus ''Archaeopteris'' is placed in the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Archaeopteridales]] and [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Archaeopteridaceae]]. The name is similar to that of the first known feathered bird, ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'', but in this case refers to the fern-like nature of the plant's [[frond]]s.

=== Relationship to spermatophytes ===
''Archaeopteris'' is a member of a group of free-sporing woody plants called the [[progymnosperm]]s that are interpreted as distant ancestors of the [[gymnosperm]]s. ''Archaeopteris'' reproduced by releasing spores rather than by producing seeds, but some of the species, such as ''Archaeopteris halliana'' were [[Heterospory|heterosporous]], producing two types of spores. This is thought to represent an early step in the evolution of [[vascular plant]]s towards reproduction by seeds,<ref name=bateman>{{cite journal|title=Heterospory - the most iterative key innovation in the evolutionary history of the plant kingdom|journal=Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society|year=1994|first=R.M.|last=Bateman|author2=W.A. Dimichele|volume=69|issue=3|pages=345–417|doi=10.1111/j.1469-185x.1994.tb01276.x|s2cid=29709953|url=http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/7107/1/paleo_1994_BatemanDiMichele_Heterospory_BiolRev_small.pdf|access-date=2010-12-30|archive-date=2012-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415114935/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/7107/1/paleo_1994_BatemanDiMichele_Heterospory_BiolRev_small.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> which first appeared in the earliest, long-extinct gymnosperm group, the seed ferns ([[Pteridospermatophyta]]). The [[conifer]]s or Pinophyta are one of four divisions of extant gymnosperms that arose from the seed ferns during the Carboniferous period.