Ginkgo fossil. Specimen of fossilized leaves of the Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo sp.). Ginkgos formed a significant element of Mesozoic period (around 200 mill

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Ginkgo fossil. Specimen of fossilized leaves of the Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo sp.). Ginkgos formed a significant element of Mesozoic period (around 200 million years ago) flora. Today, however, the group is represented by just one surviving species, Ginkgo biloba, the Maidenhair tree. Ginkgo biloba may have only been saved from extinction by the attentions of gardeners in the Far East - it was first seen by a European in Japan in 1690. As the sole survivor of a once great race G. biloba might well be described as a living fossil.

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Size: 4961px × 3631px
Photo credit: © VOLKER STEGER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: fossil, fossils, ginkgo, leaf, leaves, palaeontology, paleontology, plant, plants