Nine Fossil Ginkgo Leaves From North Dakota - Paleocene

This is a beautiful association of fossil Ginkgo leaves (Ginkgo cranei) from the Sentinel Butte Formation of North Dakota. They are finely detailed and the light preservation contrasts well against the dark orangish-brown rock. This specimen features a well-preserved seed pod amongst the leaves. There are a few, minor repaired cracks and the faint impression of additional ginkgo leaves on the back of this specimen. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

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.