Tranquille Shale Fossil Conifer Leaf and Seeds

Coming from the Tranquille Shale in British Columbia, Canada, this Middle Eocene plant fossil plate represents some of the defining events of Paleobiology in the Tertiary (see discussion below). This plant fossil plate contains 3.7 inch long stem of some type of conifer that is seldom found in the formation. There are also two seeds that may be from the same plant.

The Eocene was a period when flowering plants continued a massive radiation that began in the Paleocene Epoch. Plants thrived, and with that many animals, as new environmental niches were filled. The first grasses appeared with growth near the root as opposed to the tip, providing a renewable food resource and place of refuge for many animals. Small mammals radiated. Many new species of shrubs, trees and small plants appeared. A variety of trees thrived in a warm Eocene climate, including beech, elm, chestnut, magnolia, redwood, birch, and cedar, and more. The evolution of plants was providing a powerful selective pressure across the entire animal Kingdom, and many new symbiotic systems appeared.