Multiple choice

A living fossil is a species that closely resembles its fossil ancestors. Which among the following ferns is a living fossil?

  1. Christensenia aesculifolia

  2. Ophioglossoid fern

  3. Whisk fern

  4. Equisetum

  5. Leptosporangiate fern
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Equisetum is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. It is a living fossil as it is the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests.

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