Fossil Trees

[Dave.G.]

A few years ago I was lucky enough to plant a Wollemi Pine with David Noble. Happend to mention this to my boss today and she now wants to put together a fossil tree collection. So to save me doing hours of homework tonight how many "extinct" trees can you guys come up with? I am thinking Ginko, Cryptomeria, metasequia, sciadopitys

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Dont think any of those are extinct!

 

I think you mean pre historic! monkey puzzle, tree ferns?

[Dave.G.]

Sorry. Thought to be extinct until re-discoverd or pre-historic or fossil tree

Edited March 9, 2011 by Dave.G.
added a bit

[mrtree]

Nothofagus immediately comes to mind, I am sure that their occurence were part of the reasoning behind continental drift theory (as presented by Wegner).

 

Off the top of my head,genera, families having fossil lineage include (but perhaps not extant species which are fossils):

 

Proteaceae

Araucaria

Agathus

Cycad

Conifers

Podacarps

Casuarina

Eucalypts

Acacia

Magnolia

Brachiychiton

Fagus

Quercus

Cinnamomum

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Nothofagus immediately comes to mind, I am sure that their occurence were part of the reasoning behind continental drift theory (as presented by Wegner).

 

Off the top of my head,genera, families having fossil lineage include (but perhaps not extant species which are fossils):

 

Proteaceae

Araucaria

Agathus

Cycad

Conifers

Podacarps

Casuarina

Eucalypts

Acacia

Magnolia

Brachiychiton

Fagus

Quercus

Cinnamomum

 

thats cool kinda guessed a good few of those, you certainly know your stuff Mr tree, a valuable addition to the posters on the forum indeed.

 

good to have you around.

[mrtree]

I will try to find some photos I have of petrified wood (Nothofagus) in Antarctica and the live genius in South America

 

Perhaps one of the great experiences you can have is to visit the fossil beds in Eriksdal, Sweden. If you split the rock layers you can apparently find the leaves of ancient Gingkos. In this case you would have impressions on the rock as opposed to fossils where living material has been replaced with minerals.

[Taupotreeman]

What species of Nothofagus?

[mrtree]

Nothofagus antarctica covered large tracts of what is now South America, Australia, New Zealand, Antaracrtica, Tasmania, New Guinea, and New Caladonia in the Cenezoic (65mpa to present). The last Nothofagus was believed to have died on Antarctica approximately 10 to 24 mpa, about the time the gap between South America and the Antarctic peninsula opened and the circumpolar current effectively isolated Antarctica.

[mrtree]

I have been reading a little on conifers and found these books to contain some information on evolution and fossil history.

 

A Natural History of Conifers by Aljos Farjon

 

Conifers of the World by James Eckenwalder

 

Handbook of the World's Conifers by Aljos Farjon

[elfinwood saws]

Here,s one in Stanhope, Weardale, got some tree fossels found them in a local stream.