Gigantonomiales S.Meyen Gigantopterids (Gigantopteridales) is an extinct, possibly polyphyletic group of seed plants known from the Permian period.

Gigantopterids were among the most advanced land plants of the Paleozoic Era and disappeared around the Permian–Triassic extinction event around 252 million years ago.

Though some lineages of these plants managed to persist initially, they either disappeared entirely or adapted radically, evolving into undetermined descendants, as surviving life prospered again in much-altered ecosystems.

Another key region for gigantopterid fossils is in China, and the consolidation of all major continents into Pangea would have allowed for easy global dispersal.

[8] However, many experts remain skeptical of the new name, because they consider such a move premature until more is known about the interrelationships of the genera of "gigantopterids" and the relationships of these to other plants.

[9] It appears as if at least some of his divisions ought to prove useful when a more definite phylogenetic, systematic and taxonomic arrangement for this group is eventually found.

On the other hand, the Gigantopteridaceae would with near certainty have to be more narrowly circumscribed even if the Gigantopteridales are by and large verified as a clade; they might even become limited to the two or so genera now placed in the Gigantopteridieae.

Additionally, the percentage of entire margined gigantopterid taxa in a palaeobotanical assemblage has been suggested to be a function of palaeotemperature.