1 minute read
Petrified Triassic tree trunk
Petrified trunk of a Triassic tree (below)
Image taken by Josefina Bodnar.
Advertisement
© Josefina Bodnar. All rights reserved.
The petrified trunk is preserved in a rock stratum from Barreal locality, at the San Juan Province, central-western Argentina. It corresponds to a tree which lived during the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, about 245 million years ago.
The petrified stem anatomy can be studied as in extant trees, because minerals filled the cavities of plant tissues preserving cellular details.
The peculiar lobed and fragmented anatomy of this Triassic trunk allowed to interpret that it was a tree of a totally extinct seed plant group called “corystoperms” which was adapted to seasonal and dry climates.
About
Josefina Bodnar, PhD, is a paleontologist dedicated to the study of morphology and evolution of fossil plants during the Mesozoic Era.
She is particularly interested in the origin and extinction of plant groups, and their relationship with the past climatic changes. Josefina works at the Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina) since 2003, where she performs research, teaching and extension tasks. Contact
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate. net/profile/Josefina-Bodnar
