Glossopterids survived end-Permian mass extinction in North Hemisphere

Recently, more attention has been paid to Glossopteris, the most significant representative fossil of the Gondwanan Supercontinent in the Paleozoic. It has been regarded as an important clade of Angiophytes on the basis of its reproductive organ related to Angiosperms. Since Brongniart erected Glossopteris in 1928, reliable Glossopterids attached by fertile organs were only collected from the Permian Gondwanaland. Here,the authors found a new element of Glossoptetids, Sinoglossa sunii gen et sp. nov., with attached female organs from the Middle Triassic Linjia Formation in Benxi, Northeast China. This demonstrates that Glossoptetids not only distributed in South Hemisphere, but also in North Hemisphere, and successfully survived the end-Permian mass extinction in North Hemisphere. The distinguished environment in Northeast China influenced by both warm and cold currents, probably resulted in the Paleozoic relic elements, such as Glossopterids associated with Lobatannularia successfully survived the end-Permian mass extinction.