Araucaria bidwellii, branch with cones

Middle - Upper Jurassic, approximately 164.7 - 155.7 million years ago. Location: La Matilde Formation, Cero Cuadrado Petrified Forest, Patagonia, Argentina. Araucaria mirabilis is a species of extinct coniferous tree from Patagonia, Argentina. It belongs to a sub-genus of Araucaria called Bunya. Its closest living relative is Araucaria bidwellii, which is found in Australia. This specimen is from the Cero Cuadrado Petrified Forest, in Patagonia, Argentina. During the Middle Jurassic (approximately 160 million years ago) a volcanic eruption buried the forest. The petrified forest contains large amounts of well preserved silicified wood and cones, including tree trunks that were eleven feet in diameter and reached 330 feet in hight in life. The cones, from this area, average between one and three inches in length and have an elliptical, ovoid, or spherical shape. The seeds of the cone, are found under each of the cone scales. Araucaria mirabilis shed only the seeds at maturity, b