The History of Land Plants

Fossil and Natural Specimens in Case 6: Why are flowering plants dominant today?

Flowering plants, the new revolution

Scale: white + black square = 2 cm

    Acer sp., Maple seed "helicopter" and leaf                             Alnus sp., Alder catkins (female - left, male right)

                                                 Both from the Clarno Mudstone, Eocene, Fossil, Oregon

                                                                           From an anonymous collection

               Unidentifed seed (with insects)                                        Macginicarpa manchesteri, Gum seeds on stalk

                                            Both from the Green River Shale, Eocene, Garfield Co., Colorado

                                                                              From an anonymous collection

        Unidentified flower and Zelkova nervosa                                                       Hydrangea? flower

    Green River Shale, Eocene, Garfield Co., Colorado                    Clarno Mudstone, Eocene, Fossil, Oregon

                                                                              From an anonymous collection

                  Protomimosoidea buchananensis                               Scutifolium jordanicum, Oldest known water lily leaves

                    Inflorescence of legume flowers                                                 Lower Cretaceous, Jordan

Late Paleocene - Early Eocene epoch, Tennessee     Both from IUS Department of Biology collections

                   Equisitem winchester, Horsetail stalk                                                        Baira sp., Ginkgo leaves

Green River Shale, Eocene epoch, Garfield Co., Colorado                                  Cretaceous, Siberia, Russia

                          From an anonymous collection                          From the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Macginitiea angustiloba (Gum) and Populus willmattae (Poplar)                  Platanus wyomingensis, Sycamore leaf?

                                                    Both from the Green River Shale, Eocene, Garfield Co., Colorado 

                                                                                 From an anonymous collection

              Leguminosites lesequereuxiana leaf                                                  Rhus nigrigans, Sumac

                                                    Both from the Green River Shale, Eocene, Garfield Co., Colorado 

                                                                             From an anonymous collection

     Mimosites coloradensis leaf with insect damage                       Salix sp., willow leaf with insect damage

     Green River Shale, Eocene, Bonanza, Utah                     Green River Shale, Eocene, Rio Blanco Co., Colorado  

                                                                             From an anonymous collection

            Swartzia wardelli leaf with insect damage                      Cordulagompus tuberculatus  Dragonfly (with smaller

          Green River Shale, Eocene, Bonanza, Utah               insect larvae), Santana Formation, Cretaceous, Ceara, Brazil

                    From an anonymous collection                           From the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis

                       Copal (Sap) with Insects                                                       Blattodea sp. cockroach

                        Plio-Pleistocene epoch                                       Santana Formation, Cretaceous, Ceara, Brazil

                                    Both from the collection of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Invasion of Land

The First Trees

Seed Plant: Boldly Growing Where No Plant Has Grown Before

Monster Plants That Created Coal 

Plants The Dinosaurs Ate