Sabalites sp.
Plant
Late Cretaceous
Hell Creek Formation
Fallon County, Montana, USA

Beautiful 130mm palm frond on 150mm matrix.

Sabalites is a genus of palm tree that appeared during the Cretaceous Period. Its most recent fossil occurrence is the Miocene of Chile.

Palm frond fossils are indicators of a warm, near-tropical climate with no freezing winters which is pretty much the opposite of Montana’s climate now. 

The Hell Creek Formation is famous for its preservation of the remains of some of the last dinosaurs on earth.