The Paleontology of North America

Dicots from North America

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Erlingdorfia montana
Erlingdorfia montana
© 2004 UCMP

Betula cf. lutea
Betula cf. lutea
© 2002 University of California Museum of Paleontology

Platanites marginata
Platanites marginata
© 2004 UCMP

What are Dicots? Dicots comprise more than half of all the living flowering plants, including economically important plants like coffee, potatoes, and olives, as well as large trees like oaks and maples. They also include cacti and most of the large, showy flowers you may see in a flower shop. Dicots get their name from having two cotyledons, or “seed leaves,” which transport nutrients from the seed to the developing embryo. Dicots are most easily recognized by the net-like or branching arrangement of veins in their leaves. The fossil record of dicots is a little more complete than for the monocots, and it extends back to the Middle Cretaceous.

First known fossil occurrence: Cretaceous.

Last known fossil occurrence: Quaternary. This group has living relatives.

Fossils through time:
Choose a time period to see what life was like:

Quaternary
Tertiary
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Precambrian