1.9" Fossil Ginkgo Leaf With Fossils On Back - Paleocene

Fossil Ginkgo Leaf With Fossils On Back - Paleocene #58977

This is a beautiful fossil Gingko leaf of the species Ginkgo adiantoides from the Sentinel Butte Formation of North Dakota. It is finely detailed and the light preservation contrasts well against the dark orangish-brown rock. There are also several other plant fossils on the back side of the rock.

During this time in the Paleocene epoch, the Ginkgo genus was only represented by a single polymorphic species, formerly described as Ginkgo adiantoides. In 2012, the taxon Ginkgo cranei was assigned in place of Ginkgo adiantoides. This species was distributed in much of the northern regions of North America, which had a hot, humid climate at the time. Its leaves were virtually indistinguishable from modern-day Ginkgo biloba. These species of Ginkgo went extinct approximately 7 million years ago.