This is the "Fossil Friday" post #217. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected]. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!
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Whole-plant reconstruction of Cordaites borassifolius (Sternberg) Unger (reconstruction by J. Svoboda).
Here is a nice Cordaites borassifolius from Pit 3. It was collected in 2023 and opened via freeze/thaw. Cordaites is an extinct genus of early gymnosperms. Cordaites probably grew to more than 100 feet tall in swampy conditions, forming forests similar to modern day mangroves.
Cordaites borassifolius was named by Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (1761 - 1838) in 1821. Sternberg was a Bohemian theologian, minerologist, geologist, entomologist, and botanist. He is widely known as the "Father of Paleobotany".
