BIO 113 — Dinosaurs

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(Microbes)
Contents: Lycophyta | Pteridophyta | Sphenophyta | Pteridospermales | Coniferophyta | Anthophyta
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Lycophyta — Club Mosses and Relatives


Lepidophylloides is the name given to what are most likely the leaves of the branch fossil Lepidodendron. It is common for plant fossils to have separate names for seeds/fruits, leaves and branches or bark, as whole plant fossils are rare so it is difficult to match which leaves belong to which branches or other parts.

Hazard, Kentucky

Pennsylvanian Period, Breathitt Group, 300 Ma

In situ

Lepidophylloides

Lepidodendron branches.

Hazard, Kentucky

Pennsylvanian Period, Breathitt Group, 300 Ma

In situ

Lepidodendron

Pteridophyta — Ferns


Pecopteris sp. frond (leaf).

Mazon Creek, IL

Francis Creek Shale, Carbondale Formation., Middle Pennsylvanian, 300 Ma

personal collection

fern leaf

Section through the petrified trunk of the tree fern, Psaronius braziliensis.

Araguaina Petrified Forest, Maranhao Province, Brazil

Permian Period, 270 Ma

personal collection

Psaronius tree fern

Sphenophyta — Horsetails


The leaves of Annularia radiata, a tree-sized horsetail; probably the same species as the trunk Calamites.

Hazard, Kentucky

Pennsylvanian Period, Breathitt Group, 300 Ma

In situ

Annularia

The trunk of the tree-sized horsetail plant, Calamites sp. (likely the same species as the Annularia leaves)

Hazard, Kentucky

Pennsylvanian Period, Breathitt Group, 300 Ma

personal collection

Calamites

Horsetail, probably Annularia sp.

and 2 seed or true fern leaves

Unknown

Carboniferous Period?

ASU teaching collection

Horsetail

Pteridospermales — Seed Ferns


Leaves of two types of seed fern, Neuropteris sp. (multiple leaflets) and Cyclopteris sp. (single leaves), as well as some branches. Seed ferns are an extinct group that have fern-like leaves, but produced seeds (ferns reproduce using spores). Seed ferns are probably a paraphyletic grouping, and their relationships to other seed plants is uncertain.

Hazard, Kentucky

Pennsylvanian Period, Breathitt Group, 300 Ma

personal collection

Seed Fern leaves

Leaves of the seed fern Glossopteris sp. The distribution of this genus in the sourthern hemisphere has been used as evidence for continental drift.

Australia

Permian Period

personal collection

Glossopteris

Coniferophyta — Conifers (Pines, Firs, Sequoias, Etc)


Araucaria mirabilis cones (whole and cut and polished). Cones that bear seeds is one of the distinctive hallmarks of the Coniferophyta

Argentina

Jurassic Period

Museum of Ancient Life

Araucaria Cones

White Cedar (aka False Cypress), foliage and cone, Chamaecyparis linguaefolia.

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

White Cedar

Pine cone fossil, Pinus sp.

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Pine cone

Petrified tree stump of the redwood Sequoioxcylon pearsalli.

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

In situ

image

Petrified wood section, primarily Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

Chinle Formation, late Triassic Period

In situ

petrified wood

Petrified logs, primarily Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

Chinle Formation, late Triassic Period

In situ

petrified log

Anthophyta — Flowering Plants


An unidentified flower. The anthophyta are the most abundant plant group today, making up about 90% of all species. They are characterized by the presence of flowers, reproductive structures that aid in pollination, typically by attracting insects and other animals. Once fertilized, the flowers develop into fruits that protect the seeds and aid in dispersal.

Green River Formation, Wyoming

Eocene Epoch, about 48 Ma

Fossil Butte National Monument

unidentified flower

An unidentified flower.

Green River Formation, Wyoming

Eocene Epoch, about 48 Ma

Fossil Butte National Monument

unidentified flower 2

Another unidentified flower.

Green River Formation, Wyoming

Eocene Epoch, about 48 Ma

Fossil Butte National Monument

unidentified flower 3

Florissantia speirii flower.

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Florissantia

Mesquite fruit (bean), Prosopis sp. (bean family, Fabaceae). Fruits are derived from the ovary of flowers are are unique to the Anthophyta (although some other seed plants have soft, fleshy cones that are superficially fruit-like)

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

image

Unidentified fruit and seeds.

Green River Formation, Wyoming

Eocene Epoch, about 48 Ma

Fossil Butte National Monument

unidentified fruit 1

The fruit of the plant Lagokarpos sp. has only a single seed; the fruit forms two 'wings' that help disperse the seed in the wind.

Green River Formation, Wyoming

Eocene Epoch, about 48 Ma

Fossil Butte National Monument

Lagokarpos fruit

Golden Rain Tree leaf and branches, Koelreuteria sp.

Florissant Formation, Colorado

Eocene Epoch, 34 Ma

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

golden rain tree
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This page last updated 24 Sept 2024 by Udo M. Savalli ()
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