''Pinus latahensis'' is an
extinct species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
conifer in the
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
family
Pinaceae
The Pinaceae, or pine family, are conifer trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales, formerly kn ...
. The species is known from
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
leaves found in the early
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and southern British Columbia, Canada.
Age
''Pinus latahensis'' was first described by
Edward W. Berry
Edward Wilber Berry (February 10, 1875 – September 20, 1945) was an American paleontologist and botanist; the principal focus of his research was paleobotany.
Early life
Berry was born February 10, 1875, in Newark, New Jersey, and finished hig ...
in 1929 based on a
compression fossil
A compression fossil is a fossil preserved in sedimentary rock that has undergone physical compression. While it is uncommon to find animals preserved as good compression fossils, it is very common to find plants preserved this way. The reason f ...
recovered from shale outcrops in the
Republic, Washington area.
When published the holotype specimen's
type locality at Republic was misidentified as being an extension of the younger
Latah Formation
The Latah Formation is a series of late Miocene lacustrine sedimentary deposits which outcrop in eastern Washington and northwestern Idaho. The lake beds are interbedded with igneous rock of the Columbia River Basalt Group. The formation was ...
, located around the
Spokane region, which was then considered to be of
Late Miocene age.
Roland W. Brown identified that the Republic floras is of an older age and not part of the Latah formation in 1937.
The Oligocene age was followed by
Herman Becker (1961) while discussing the Oligocene
Ruby Flora of Montana
and
Jack Wolfe (1965) in discussing the Miocene Fingerrock Wash Flora of Nevada.
In a written communication circa 1958, Brown again revised the age still older, stating fossils found in the area of Mount Elizabeth, northeast of Republic indicated an
Oligocene age. This age was used by R.L. Parker and J. A. Calkins (1964) on their assessment of the Curlew Quadrangle of Ferry County.
Since then the fossil-bearing strata of the
Klondike Mountain Formation have been
radiometrically dated, to give a current estimate of the
Ypresian
In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian ...
, the mid stage of the early Eocene,.
Distribution and paleoenvironment
In his 1955 review of conifer fossils found in the
Princeton coal fields of
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Chester A. Arnold noted the marked similarities between the Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations and interpreted the shared taxa of the formations to indicated that the Klondike Mountain Formation was of Oligocene age like the Allenby Formation was thought to be at the time.
This similarity was also noted and commented on by
Charles Miller (1975) who agreed the Republic and Princeton floras were coeval, and of Eocene age.
Both sites represent upland lake systems that were surrounded by a warm temperate ecosystem with nearby volcanism.
The highlands likely had a
mesic upper microthermal to
lower mesothermal climate, in which winter temperatures rarely dropped low enough for snow, and which were seasonably equitable.
The Okanagan highlands paleoforest surrounding the lakes have been described as precursors to the modern
temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions.
These f ...
of Eastern North America and Eastern Asia. Based on the fossil
biotas the lakes were higher and cooler then the