| Pallaviciniites Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Marchantiophyta |
| Class: | Jungermanniopsida |
| Order: | Metzgeriales |
| Genus: | †Pallaviciniites Schuster 1966 (Hueber, 1961) |
| Species: | †P. devonicus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Pallaviciniites devonicus Schuster 1966 (Hueber, 1961) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The lowermost Upper Devonian fossil Pallaviciniites was for a time the oldest known liverwort until Metzgeriothallus was recovered from earlier Devonian strata.
It had a central axis, and bifurcated at its tips; similar fossils have been found in younger strata through to the Pleistocene. With the exception of its elongated axial conducting (non-vascular) cells, the thallus was a single cell thick. It had a serrated margin.
Prior to its discovery, the oldest known liverworts dated to the Lower Carboniferous.