Ginko Biloba (fossil)

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Ginko Biloba (fossil)

Entry/Object ID

2011.57.126

Description

Crystal System: Hexagonal System Description: Kingdom: Plantae Family: Ginkoaceae Class: Ginkogoopsida Species: biloba Common Name: Ginko Biloba (fossil) Age: Permian Location: Unknown Description: Large slab with single large partial fossil leaf. Good detail showing stem structure. Color is light to medium tan. Physical Characteristics: The Ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern Ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. The most plausible ancestral group for the order Ginkgoales is the Pteridospermatophyta, also known as the "seed ferns," specifically the order Peltaspermales. The closest living relatives of the clade are the cycads,[3] which share with the extant G. biloba the characteristic of motile sperm. Fossils attributable to the genus Ginkgo first appeared in the Early Jurassic, and the genus diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. It declined in diversity as the Cretaceous progressed, and by the Paleocene, Ginkgo adiantoides was the only Ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere while a markedly different (and poorly documented) form persisted in the Southern Hemisphere. At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China where the modern species survived. It is doubtful whether the Northern Hemisphere fossil species of Ginkgo can be reliably distinguished. Given the slow pace of evolution and morphological similarity between members of the genus, there may have been only one or two species existing in the Northern Hemisphere through the entirety of the Cenozoic: present-day G. biloba (including G. adiantoides) and G. gardneri from the Paleocene of Scotland.[4] Family: Syringoporidae Fracture: Conchoidal Grain Size: Fine Hardness: 3 Calcite Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Luster: Vitreous Class: Anthoza Phylum: Cnidaria Rock Origin: Terrestrial Rock Type: Sedimentary Streak: white Subspecies: syringopora

Collection

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition

Accession

2011.57

Source or Donor

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition Method

Long-term Loan

Dimensions

Width

10-3/4 in

Depth

4-1/4 in

Length

12 in

Location

Location

Drawer

Center / Back Row

Shelf

Bottom

Cabinet

Case # 72

Wall

North

Room

Delmar Smith Hall

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Permanent