Pentoxylon Wood Fossil – 350g, Jurassic, Miles QLD

A rare and scientifically significant piece of Australia's ancient flora — this Pentoxylon fossil wood specimen weighs 350 grams and was collected from the Miles region of Queensland, one of Australia's most productive Jurassic fossil localities. Pentoxylon is an extinct genus of seed plant from the Jurassic period, known almost exclusively from Gondwanan localities, making Australian specimens particularly important to our understanding of the ancient southern supercontinent's plant life.

Pentoxylon wood is characterised by its distinctive cellular structure, which is often beautifully preserved in silicified (petrified) specimens. The replacement of the original organic wood tissue by silica over millions of years locks in the fine anatomical detail of the wood — in exceptional specimens, individual cells and growth rings can be seen. The result is a piece that is simultaneously a geological specimen, a botanical record, and a window into the Jurassic ecosystems of ancient Australia.

Miles, Queensland has yielded some of the finest Jurassic plant fossils found anywhere in Australia, and Pentoxylon specimens from this region are genuinely uncommon in the collector market.

• Fossil: Pentoxylon sp. (Extinct Jurassic Seed Plant)
• Age: Jurassic
• Origin: Miles, Queensland, Australia
• Weight: 350g
• Form: Fossil wood (silicified)