''Eathiestrobus mackenziei'' is a fossil pine cone found in the

Kimmeridge Clay The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation is the major source rock for North ...

Formation (

Upper Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

) near Eathie, on the

Black Isle The Black Isle ( gd, an t-Eilean Dubh, ) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and Nor ...

in Scotland. It is the oldest fossil pine currently known.

Etymology

The genus name ''Eathiestrobus'' refers to the place it was found, Eathie, in Scotland, and ''strobus'', which means cone. The species name ''mackenziei'' honors Mr. W. Mackenzie, who collected the specimen and donated it to the Hunterian Museum in 1896.

Description

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

of ''Eathiestrobus mackenziei'' consists of an incomplete, 8 cm long seed cone. It is held in the

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

in Glasgow, and was originally identified as '' Pityostrobus'', but later re-examined and reclassified as a new genus and species.

Significance

''Eathiestrobus'' extends the fossil record for the family Pinaceae by around 20 million years. The oldest fossil pines were known from the Early Cretaceous (''

Pinus yorkshirensis ''Pinus yorkshirensis'' is an extinct species of pine tree. The fossil pine cone came from Hauterivian and Barremian-aged sedimentary rocks located in the Speeton Clay in Yorkshire (hence the species epithet). Discovery and naming The type spe ...

'' and '' Pityostrobus californensis''). ''Eathiestrobus'' was also important because it clarified the characteristics of the seed cones of Pinaceae, making it easier to identify members of the family in the fossil record.

References

Pinaceae Prehistoric plant genera {{paleobotany-stub