News > Ginkgo leaves help scientists decipher ancient climates

Ginkgo leaves help scientists decipher ancient climates

Embedded in the ancient rock- triangular leaf with rounded upper lobes. This leaf fell off a tree around the time that T-rex and triceratops roamed prehistoric forests.

What’s also special about ginkgo trees is that their fossils often preserve actual plant material, not simply a leaf’s impression. And that thin sheet of organic matter may be key to understanding the ancient climate system– and the possible future of our warming planet.