Because plants belonging to the Metgeriales lack hard tissues, and the plants often decay or die back, preservation of fossils is dependent upon rapid burial by floods or volcanic ash.
 Bryophytes are considered "delicate" plants, and this characteristic is often cited as the reason for the apparently poor fossil record of the group.
 However, fossils of the Metzgeriales are distributed widely, both geographically and stratigraphically, and the fossils which have been found are often highly detailed and well-preserved.

The oldest fossil bryophyte is a compression fossil of Pallavicinites devonicus from Upper Devonian rocks that has been confidently assigned to the Metzgeriales.
 Portions of the fossil that have been isolated for microscopic examination reveal an extraordinary degree of cellular detail.
 The plant consisted of a thin, ribbon-like, bifurcating thallus with a thicker central midrib.
 The plant is remarkably similar in structure to members of the extant liverwort family Pallaviciniaceae, but no reproductive structures have been found.
 Additional species assigned to the genus Pallavicinites have been found in rocks dating from the Carboniferous to the Pleistocene.

Another early fossil probably belonging to the Metzgeriales is the Carboniferous fossil Thallites willsi, which has been compared to the modern genus Metzgeria.
 However, it has been assigned to the form genus Thallites, which is used for thalloid fossil plants and algae of uncertain relationships.
 Most fossils belonging to the Metzgeriales are assigned to the genus Metzgeriites, which was established for this purpose.
 Specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of Shropshire, England, have been named Hepaticites metzgerioides, and (as the specific epithet indicates) these specimens strongly resemble the genus Metzgeria.
 However, they have been placed instead in the form genus Hepaticites, used for fossils believed to be liverworts but without confident affiliation with any extant order.
 This species is not restricted to British localities, but has also been found in the Karagandy Province of Kazakhstan.

Mesozoic fossils of Metzgeriites have also been found.
 Metzgeriites glebosus has been collected from Jurassic strata of Greenland.
 The type material, and so far only material collected, consists of a midrib with a thin lamina that is deeply and irregularly lobed.
 A Cretaceous fossil from Portugal has been named Metzgeriites infracretaceus.
 Like M. glebosus, it possesses a midrib and thin lamina, but unlike that taxon the lamina of M. infracretaceus is not lobed.
Because plants belonging to the Metgeriales lack hard tissues, and the plants often decay or die back, preservation of fossils is dependent upon rapid burial by floods or volcanic ash.  Bryophytes are considered "delicate" plants, and this characteristic is often cited as the reason for the apparently poor fossil record of the group.  However, fossils of the Metzgeriales are distributed widely, both geographically and stratigraphically, and the fossils which have been found are often highly detailed and well-preserved.
The oldest fossil bryophyte is a compression fossil of Pallavicinites devonicus from Upper Devonian rocks that has been confidently assigned to the Metzgeriales.  Portions of the fossil that have been isolated for microscopic examination reveal an extraordinary degree of cellular detail.  The plant consisted of a thin, ribbon-like, bifurcating thallus with a thicker central midrib.  The plant is remarkably similar in structure to members of the extant liverwort family Pallaviciniaceae, but no reproductive structures have been found.  Additional species assigned to the genus Pallavicinites have been found in rocks dating from the Carboniferous to the Pleistocene.
Another early fossil probably belonging to the Metzgeriales is the Carboniferous fossil Thallites willsi, which has been compared to the modern genus Metzgeria.  However, it has been assigned to the form genus Thallites, which is used for thalloid fossil plants and algae of uncertain relationships.  Most fossils belonging to the Metzgeriales are assigned to the genus Metzgeriites, which was established for this purpose.  Specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of Shropshire, England, have been named Hepaticites metzgerioides, and (as the specific epithet indicates) these specimens strongly resemble the genus Metzgeria.  However, they have been placed instead in the form genus Hepaticites, used for fossils believed to be liverworts but without confident affiliation with any extant order.  This species is not restricted to British localities, but has also been found in the Karagandy Province of Kazakhstan.
Mesozoic fossils of Metzgeriites have also been found.  Metzgeriites glebosus has been collected from Jurassic strata of Greenland.  The type material, and so far only material collected, consists of a midrib with a thin lamina that is deeply and irregularly lobed.  A Cretaceous fossil from Portugal has been named Metzgeriites infracretaceus.  Like M. glebosus, it possesses a midrib and thin lamina, but unlike that taxon the lamina of M. infracretaceus is not lobed.
Metzgeriales