The Paleocene Epoch was the dawn of a major change on planet Earth. After the catastrophic K-Pg extinction event which brought about the end of the dinosaurs, new life forms took root and recovered. A warm and wet climate and the extinction of large herbivore dinosaurs allowed massive forests to grow and prosper.

This specimen is a fossilized imprint of a leaf from one of these Paleocene forests. The detail captured within these fossils is quite impressive, with midribs, veins, and petioles all visible to the eye.

These specimens come from private land on the Fort Union Formation in Glendive, Montana. They are dated to over 56,000,000 years ago and come from a variety of genera as listed above.

Each fossil is packed in a sturdy shipping carton and comes with a certificate of authenticity as well as a display stand. It is the perfect piece to show off to visitors and wow them with the rich history of the planet!

These are some of the highest-detail fossil plants we've offered in the Mini Museum shop. Several fossils are available and listed by size in the collection below.

In the calamity of the K-Pg extinction, three-quarters of the species on Earth perished, but in this sudden biological vacuum, new life forms came to flourish. Mammals that had been dwarfed by the dinosaurs grew in size, while greenhouse gasses and hotter climates blanketed the Earth in dense forests.

Across the Paleocene Epoch, plant life evolved features to exploit this radically new environment—these leaves’ structure is a testament to the new burst of life that followed the K-Pg extinction.

Just as mammals grew in size after the reigning lizards were knocked out of the picture, these worldwide forests flourished precisely because there were no more dinosaurs. With no massive (and vegetarian) sauropods to chow down on them, trees sprang to new towering heights, growing ever higher in a competition for sunlight.

Even across the epoch’s ten million years, during which the climate fluctuated to lower temperatures, these forests continued to thrive.

The abundance of forests during the Paleocene means there was great variety in the epoch’s plant life, but there are certain commonalities.

Responding to greater humidity and rainfall, drip tips became a common feature of leaves, a natural canal in the plant’s structure to prevent water buildup. This structure was most common in South America, where tropical rainforests first appeared. The Cerrejón Formation in Colombia, dating to 58 million years ago, strikingly mirrors modern rainforests, with an abundance of palms, legumes, and flowering menisperms.

Leaves had an important impact on the environment, with closed-canopy tropical forests becoming common in the Paleocene. Enveloping the forest floor in shadow, these canopies provided a stable temperature and wet conditions, aiding in life’s rebound after the K-Pg extinction.

These prehistoric leaves, now preserved in beautiful compression fossils, were a key feature of the Paleocene Epoch, which shepherded the Earth into a new chapter in the history of life.