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Image Title: Menispermites cordatus, a new fossil leaf species from the middle–late Paleocene
Image Credit: Fabiany Herrera, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution, Scott Wing
AJB Editor: Judy Jernstedt, University of California - Davis
Intended End User: Teacher, Student
License Details: BSA - Terms for Image Use
Copyright held by: Herrera, Wing, BSA
Date Created: 8/1/2008
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About the Image

Menispermites cordatus, a new fossil leaf species from the middle–late Paleocene (ca. 60-58 Mya) of the Cerrejón paleoflora, northern Colombia. Leaf morphology and venation patterns are remarkably similar to those of the modern lianas of Menispermaceae. The presence of climbing plants and tall canopy trees in the Cerrejón Paleocene forest suggests that multistratification of Neotropical rain forests is an ancient feature.

For further deat, see: Jaramillo et al. — Menispermaceae from the Cerrejón Formation, middle to late Paleocene, Colombia, American Journal of Botany, Volume 95, Issue 8, pages 954-973, http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/short/95/8/954.


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