.78" Fossil Pine Cone (Metasequoia) - Montana

This is a small, Cretaceous age pine cone (Dawn Redwood) of the species Metasequoia dakotensis with great preservation, collected from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. These pine cones are Cretaceous in age and were likely collected from an iron-rich outcrop within the Hell Creek Formation, which explains their dark orange-red coloration.

The Metasequoia genus was considered extinct until a living population was discovered in China in 1941. This makes the dawn redwood a classic example of a living fossil.