Middle Miocene (Barstovian)

Esmeralda Formation

Fingerrock Wash, NV, USA

Beautiful 5mm seed on 40mm paper shale

Seed, Conifer. Plant.

Betula is the plant genus that includes a variety of modern birch trees.  It dates back to at least the Early Eocene of western North America.

This specimen was buried during a warm phase of the Cenozoic Era and around the time of the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, an interval of prolonged warming (approx. 14-16 million years ago) not only in shallow seas and along the coasts but also in the deep ocean and at higher latitudes.  The MMCO ended up being a brief interruption in an overall cooling trend that started in the Middle Eocene and led to the ices ages of the Pleistocene.

Well-preserved specimen of a delicate seed. A fine piece for a fossil plant collector looking for something unusual.