Oregon: Metasequoia (state fossil)
Oregon: Metasequoia (state fossil)
Oregon finally shed the distinction (notoriety?) of being the only western state lacking a state fossil when it named the fossil leaf Metasequoia its official symbol last spring. These conifer trees, relatives of living pines, junipers, and yews, were widespread members of northern swamp forests during the latter half of the Tertiary Period.
Although the Metasequoia fossils found in Oregon date from the Miocene Epoch (25 - 5 million years ago), the genus itself is not officially extinct. In a vegetational reprise of the coelacanth story (see dinofish.com), Metasequoia was known only from fossils until a grove of living trees was discovered in a remote valley in China in 1941. The tree is known in the horticultural trade as the "dawn redwood."
After an intense effort by Newport fossil buff Guy DiTorrice (who once presented each and every legislator with a Metasequoia fossil) and student MacKenzie Smith, with the help of State Rep. Alan Brown, the Oregon legislature passed House Joint Resolution #3 on May 4, 2005. Honoring a fossil tree seemed appropriate to Oregon residents because it recognizes their timber heritage.
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