Fossil of Taxodium dubium, a genus of several species of conifers in the cypress family, the Cupressaceae. These fossil remains detail male strobili a

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Fossil of Taxodium dubium, a genus of several species of conifers in the cypress family, the Cupressaceae. These fossil remains detail male strobili and the typically thin cypress leaf. Taxodium occur today on the North American continent where they are deciduous in the north and evergreen to semi evergreen in the south. Taxodium was much more widespread in the past, from the late Cretaceous onwards and most widespread during the Tertiary (= Cenozoic era) up to the Pliocene. This fossil specimen is from Miocene (Tortonian) deposits in the West German Rhineland area, approximately 8 million years old.

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Size: 3641px × 4979px
Photo credit: © DIRK WIERSMA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: america, cenozoic, continent, cretaceous, cupressaceae, cypress, deciduous, evergreen, fossil, miocene, north, pliocen