Ruffordia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of ferns}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil Range|Middle Jurassic|Eocene}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Eckfeld Maar (NHMM collection) (Eocene of Germany) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=24201&is_real_user=1 |website=PBDB.org}}</ref> | image = Ruffordia sp - Creta inf Brazil.jpg | image_caption = A Brazilian fossil of Ruffordia at the Senckenberg Museum of Frankfurt in Germany | taxon = Ruffordia | authority = Seward | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *{{extinct}}'''''R.gopperti ''''' * {{extinct}}'''''R.acrodenta ''''' * {{extinct}}'''''R.subcretacea''''' }}

'''''Ruffordia''''' is an extinct genus of cosmopolitan ferns that thrived during the Mesozoic<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dettmann |first1=Mary E. |last2=Clifford |first2=H. Trevor |date=1992-01-01 |title=Phylogeny and biogeography of Ruffordia, Mohria and Anemia (Schizaeaceae) and Ceratopteris (Pteridaceae): evidence from in situ and dispersed spores |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=269–314 |doi=10.1080/03115519208619111 |bibcode=1992Alch...16..269D |issn=0311-5518}}</ref> and Cenozoic Eras, particularly from the Jurassic through the Cretaceous periods with the last species dying out during the Eocene.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Mohr |first1=Barbara A. R. |last2=Bernardes-de-Oliveira |first2=Mary E. C. |last3=Loveridge |first3=Robert |last4=Pons |first4=Denise |last5=Sucerquia |first5=Paula Andréa |last6=Castro-Fernandes |first6=Maria C. |date=2015-05-01 |title=Ruffordia goeppertii (Schizaeales, Anemiaceae) – A common fern from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of northeast Brazil |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667114002171 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=54 |pages=17–26 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2014.11.006 |bibcode=2015CrRes..54...17M |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was notable for being a widespread and abundant ground cover in open, savanna-like ecosystems, especially in regions dominated by gymnosperms<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Jong-Heon |last2=Nam |first2=Kye-Soo |last3=Lee |first3=Seong-Bok |last4=Jeon |first4=Yeong-Seok |date=2016-09-30 |title=Fossil Plants from the Early Cretaceous Hasandong Formation of Chilgok Area, Korea |journal=Journal of the Korean Earth Science Society |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=295–308 |doi=10.5467/jkess.2016.37.5.295 |issn=1225-6692}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and early angiosperms.<ref name=":0" /> Ecologically, ''Ruffordia'' was quite similar to the modern Bracken fern (''Pteridium''), which also forms dense, clonal colonies across open habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alonso-Amelot |first1=Miguel E. |last2=Rodulfo-Baechler |first2=Serbia |date=1996-08-01 |title=Comparative spatial distribution, size, biomass and growth rate of two varieties of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum L. Kuhn) in a neotropical montane habitat |journal=Vegetatio |language=en |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=137–147 |doi=10.1007/BF00044647 |issn=0042-3106}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dodonov |first1=Pavel |last2=Xavier |first2=Rafael de Oliveira |last3=Matos |first3=Dalva Maria da Silva |date=2023-12-01 |title=Temporal dynamics of the superdominant bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum in Neotropical savanna-riparian forest transitions |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/rod/a/HZHSKYHNtT3SnBsVr6zmvxN/?lang=en |journal=Rodriguésia |language=en |volume=74 |article-number=e00432023 |doi=10.1590/2175-7860202374078 |issn=0370-6583|doi-access=free }}</ref> Despite this similarity, it was closer phylogenetically to Schizaeales<ref>{{Citation |last=Smith |first=Alan R. |title=Fern classification |date=2008-06-19 |work=Biology and Evolution of Ferns and Lycophytes |pages=417–467 |editor-last=Ranker |editor-first=Tom A. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9780511541827A148/type/book_part |access-date=2026-03-27 |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511541827.017 |isbn=978-0-521-87411-3 |last2=Pryer |first2=Kathleen M. |last3=Schuettpelz |first3=Eric |last4=Korall |first4=Petra |last5=Schneider |first5=Harald |last6=Wolf |first6=Paul G. |editor2-last=Haufler |editor2-first=Christopher H.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>.<ref name=":0" /> Three species are known, '''''Ruffordia gopperti''''', '''''Ruffordia acrodenta'''''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knowlton |first1=F. H. |title=A catalogue of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic plants of North America |journal=United States Geological Survey Bulletin |date=1919 |page=1 |doi=10.3133/b696 |bibcode=1919usgs.rept....1K }}</ref> and '''''Ruffordia subcretacea'''''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Wilde |first1=Volker |last2=Frankenhäuser |first2=Herbert |date=1998-06-01 |title=The Middle Eocene plant taphocoenosis from Eckfeld (Eifel, Germany) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034666797000675 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=7–28 |doi=10.1016/S0034-6667(97)00067-5 |bibcode=1998RPaPa.101....7W |issn=0034-6667|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Ecology == ''Ruffordia'' likely was adapted for colonization of disturbed freshwater swamp plains, taking advantage of the destruction of competitor plants.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Sender |first=Luis M. |last2=Villanueva-Amadoz |first2=Uxue |last3=Wappler |first3=Torsten |last4=Diez |first4=José B. |last5=Cobos |first5=Alberto |date=2025-02-01 |title=Colonisation of disturbed deltaic paleoenvironments from the Early Cretaceous (Albian): Inferences from an exceptional record of the fern Ruffordia goeppertii (Dunker) Seward from northeastern Spain |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667124001915 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=166 |article-number=106018 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2024.106018 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}</ref> There is also evidence of ''Ruffordia'' acting as a host species for galling insects.<ref name=":2" />

==Distribution== Fossils are known from New Zealand, China, Peru, Brazil,<ref name=":0" /> Canada, Spain, Belgium, The United States, Madagascar, South Korea and Germany.<ref>{{cite web |title=†Ruffordia Seward 1894 (fern) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=txn:414128 |website=PBDB.org}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Schizaeales Category:Fossil taxa described in 1894 Category:Prehistoric plant genera Category:Mesozoic plants Category:Jurassic plants Category:Cretaceous plants Category:Early Cretaceous plants Category:Eocene plants Category:Eocene extinctions