''Walchia'' is a fossil

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

, cypress-like

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

found in upper Pennsylvanian (

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

) and lower Permian (about 310-290 Mya) rocks of Europe and North America. A forest of in-situ Walchia tree-stumps is located on the

Northumberland Strait The Northumberland Strait (French: ''détroit de Northumberland'') is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western sho ...

coast at Brule,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Besides the ''Walchia'' forest, fallen tree trunks, and leaflet impressions, the forest, fossil-rich layer contains numerous, 4-legged,

tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids (pelycosaurs, extinct theraps ...

fossil trackway A fossil track or ichnite (Greek "''ιχνιον''" (''ichnion'') – a track, trace or footstep) is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the year ...

Individual species

''W. hypnoides'': from the schists of Lodeve; also copper slates of the Zechstein in Mansfeld.

Monuran trackways

At the same

time period The categorisation of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization.Adam Rabinowitz. And kingIt’s about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancient World Data'. Study of the Ancient universe Papers, 2014 ...

of 290 mya, another species was making fossil trackways, now preserved in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

; ''Walchia'' leaflets are found in the same fossil layers. The Monuran trackways were made by

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

, wingless insects called

monura Monura is an extinct suborder of wingless insects in the order Archaeognatha. They resembled their modern relatives, the silverfish, and had a single lengthy filament projecting from the end of the abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called t ...

ns, (meaning "one-tail"); the insects' means of locomotion was hopping, then walking. These 290 mya layers contain footprints of the large ''

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ,) meaning "two measures of teeth,” is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontid ...

'', large/small raindrop impact marks, and also these fossil trackways of insects.

References

External links

;General articles:
Chemosystematic and microstructural investigations--(including ''Walchia'')Book preview-(1854)--''W. hypnoides'' discussion
;Walchia Fossil examples:
Graphic of ''W. piniformis'' branchlets
from

James D. Dana James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...

, "Manual of Geology
Photo-High ResArticle
– www.news.ucdavis.edu--"A Bumpy Shift from Icehouse to Greenhouse", Fossil from Smithsonian. ''Walchia'' went from the 'Uplands' to the lower basins-(floodplain forest region of Brule, Nova Scotia).
Photo-High Res--4 cm width Leaflet-(Order Voltziales)
– www.colby.edu-"Carboniferous Paleoecological Scenarios" ;Walchia fossils, with Monuran trackways:
"The Footfalls and Bellyflops of Permian Insects"
– (from the

Robledo Mountains The Robledo Mountains are a mountain range in Doña Ana County, New Mexico just northwest of Las Cruces. They are an uplifted block of Paleozoic rocks on the west side of the Rio Grande Rift. The range was named for Pedro Robledo, who died on Ma ...

of New Mexico) {{Taxonbar, from=Q3185543 Voltziales Conifer genera Prehistoric gymnosperm genera Carboniferous plants Permian plants Fossil trackways Carboniferous life of Europe Carboniferous life of North America Permian life of Europe Permian life of North America Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Paleozoic life of Nunavut Paleozoic life of Prince Edward Island Pennsylvanian plants Pennsylvanian first appearances Permian extinctions