![]() ![]() This makes the dawn redwood a classic example of a living fossil. ![]() The Metasequoia genus was considered extinct until a living population was discovered in China in 1941. This large conifer is an interesting example of a living fossil, having first been described from fossils found throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. It is Oligocene in age and the dark preservation contrasts well against the light colored shale. Metasequoia glyptostroboides, commonly known as the dawn redwood, is a member of the Cupressaceae family, along with juniper and red cedar. By the end of the Cretaceous, angiosperms had replaced conifers as the dominant type of tree. Metasequoia redwood fossils are known from many areas in the Northern Hemisphere more than 20 fossil species have been named (some were even identified as the genus Sequoia), but are considered as just three species, M. These are a well defined Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood) fossil from Montana. Oligocene plants from the upper Ruby River basin, southwestern. The earliest flower fossils are known from 130 million years ago during the early Cretaceous period. Metasequoia occidentalis, photos of fossil foliage and pistillate cones. Metasequoia occidentalis is an extinct redwood species of the family Cupressaceae that is found as fossils throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are the most diverse group of land plants today. The flowering plants, or angiosperms, produce seeds enclosed in a fruit. After the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, conifers - cone-bearing trees like pines, firs, and redwoods - also exploded in diversity. ![]() Seed ferns and cycads, for example, formed huge forests during the late Paleozoic. Gymnosperms rapidly dominated the landscape after they evolved, replacing forests once filled with giant lycopods. 21.105 ), the dawn redwood, is a member of this subfamily and is often described as a living fossil. The “naked seed” plants, also called gymnosperms, were the first type of seed plants. Seeds were a major evolutionary development for plants, allowing them to disperse farther, survive harsh environments, and provide nutrients to the young plant. They enclose their embryos in a protective outer covering - a seed. Seed plants evolved during the Devonian period around 370 million years ago. ![]()
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