The Peltaspermales are an extinct order of seed plants, often considered "seed ferns".[2] They span from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Jurassic. It includes at least one valid family, Peltaspermaceae, which spans from the Permian to Early Jurassic, which is typified by a group of plants with Lepidopteris leaves, Antevsia pollen-organs, and Peltaspermum ovulate organs, though the family now also includes other genera like Peltaspermopsis , Meyenopteris and Scytophyllum.[3] Along with these, two informal groups (the "Supaioids"[4][5] and the "Comioids"[6]) of uncertain taxonomic affinities exist, each centered around a specific genus ; Supaia and Comia, known from the Early Permian of the Northern Hemisphere, especially of North America.[4][6] Both the "Comioids" and the "Supaioids" are associated with the peltaspermacean ovulate organ Autunia (also known as Sandrewia).[7][8] The Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic genus Pachydermophyllum may also have affinities to the peltasperms.[3]
It is unclear whether the broad grouping of peltasperms as a whole is monophyletic.[2] Some authors have suggested that some peltasperms may have close affinities to corystosperms, another group of extinct seed plants.[3] Meyen (1987) argued that Peltaspermales were ancestral to Ginkgoales, due to similarities between certain peltasperm form genera (Tatarina, Kirjamkenia, Stiphorus, Antevsia) and the extinct gingko Glossophyllum, and grouped peltasperms with Ginkgoales as part of Ginkgoopsida.[9]
It is suggested that at least some peltasperms may have been insect pollinated, with Pemian members of the long-probiscis scorpionfly family Protomeropidae from Russia associated with peltasperm pollen. The insects are suggested to have fed on pollination drops produced by peltasperm reproductive organs.[10]
During the late Paleozoic, peltasperms are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere,[3] with Lepidopteris first appearing in the region during the Late Permian.[11] During the Triassic, Lepidopteris became globally distributed and was abundant, especially during the Late Triassic. Lepidopteris populations collapsed during the end-Triassic mass extinction,[3][12][13] with small populations persisting in Patagonia into the Early Jurassic.[3]