Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Part 3)

Left to right are fossils of a Chaneya tenuis fruit, a hickory (Caryasp.) nut, and a fruit of the birch relative Asterocarpinus sp.

Clockwise from the top are fossils of a fern (Dryopteris guyotti), a pine (Pinussp.), a currant (Ribes errans), a Deviacer sp. fruit, and a cattail (Typha lesquereuxii). The cattail species was named for Charles Léo Lesquereux.

Left to right are fossils of a Dipteronia brownii fruit, a Rosa hilliaeleaf, a Rosa sp. thorn, and a Florissantia sp. fruit. The rose species was named by Lesquereux in honor of Charlotte Hill. Florissantia is an extinct genus of the cocoa family.

On the left are fossil leaves of Fagopsis longifolia, an extinct member of the beech family that is the most common fossil plant species at Florissant. On the right are foliage and cone fossils of white cedar (Chamaecyparis linguaefolia).

Left to right are fossils of a golden-rain tree (Koelreuteria allenii) leaf and fruit, an oak (Quercus sp.) acorn cap, a fruit of the Leguminosae family, and a hydrangea (Hydrangea fraxinifolia) leaf. Modern golden-rain trees are endemic to East Asia.

On the left are mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus sp.) leaf and seed fossils and on the right are leaf and seed fossils of the extinct elm relative Cedrelospermum lineatum, the second most common fossil plant species at Florissant.

Clockwise from the left are fossils of a hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) leaf and thorn, a Fagopsis longifolia fruit, a leaf of the Leguminosae family, and redwood (Sequoia affinis) foliage and cones. Sequoia affinis foliage is thinner and the female cones are smaller than modern redwoods.

This fossil preserves the leaves of an extinct birch relative.

On the left is a spruce (Picea sp.) seed fossil and on the right is a conifer (Torreya geometrora) leaf fossil.

On the top is a bowfin (Amia scutata) fossil. Left to right along the bottom are fossils of an earwig (Dermaptera), a spider (Araneae), an orb-weaver spider (Araneidae), a damselfly (Odonata), a fly (Diptera), and the wing of a lanternfly (Fulgoridae). The most abundant vertebrate fossils from Florissant are fishes, including bowfins (Amia scutata), suckers (Amyzon commune), catfish (Ictalurus pectinatus), and pirate perches (Trichophanes foliarum and Trichophanes copei). These fishes were described by Edward Drinker Cope except Trichophanes copei, which was named after him by Henry Fairfield Osborn, William Berryman Scott, and Frank Speir Jr. of the Princeton Scientific Expedition.

Curiously, no amphibians are known from Florissant and the only reptile fossil found at the site is a snake vertebra.

Most of the animal fossils at Florissant are invertebrates, including over 1,500 species of insects and arachnids. Mayflies, dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, cockroaches, termites, earwigs, web-spinners, cicadas, snake flies, lacewings, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies, moths, wasps, bees, ants, and spiders are represented as are millipedes, snails, clams, and ostracods. About 38% of the fossil specimens are beetles. The spider fossils of Florissant are preserved with their legs extended rather than curled in, indicating that they may have died in warmer temperature or acidic waters. The logo for Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is Palaeovespa florissantia, a species of predatory social yellowjacket. Five fossil Palaeovespaspecies were described from Florissant.

On the left is regurgatilite (fossilized fish vomit) and on the right is a crane fly (Tipulidae) fossil. Florissant has produced 23 described fossil species within the Tipula genus of crane flies.

On the left and in the center are beetle (Coleoptera) fossils and on the right is a crane fly (Tipulidae) fossil.

Clockwise from the left are fossils of midges (Chironomidae), a wasp (Vespidae), and a fly (Diptera).

Clockwise from the top left are fossils of a wasp (Vespidae), the wing and larval nest of a caddisfly (Trichoptera), a true bug (Hemiptera), and ants (Formicidae).

Left to right are fossils of a robber fly (Asilidae), a member of Hymenoptera, and a moth (Lepidoptera).