Reading Deep Time

ROOM 01

Photosynthetic alga — Grypania sp.

Precambrian — Early Proterozoic (Smithsonian catalog terminology) · Early Proterozoic; the cited Smithsonian catalog record does not provide a numeric age.

algal fossil

comparative_taxon_visual

ROOM 01

Microbial structure / possible cyanobacteria — Conophyton sp.

Proterozoic · Approximately 1 billion to 720 million years ago.

stromatolite

comparative_taxon_visual

ROOM 01

Mineralized conifer wood — Pinophyta indet.

Not established from the current verified source set. · Exact age not yet established for this display specimen.

mineralized wood

comparative_conifer_fossil_wood_visual

ROOM 01

Early amphibians — Apateon pedestris

Early Permian · Early Permian; the cited Smithsonian catalog entry does not provide a single numeric age.

body fossils

comparative_exact_taxon_visual

ROOM 01

Tree fern — Pecopteris strongii

Carboniferous — Middle Pennsylvanian · Approximately 309 million years ago in the Mazon Creek fossil context.

leaf

comparative_pecopteris_visual

ROOM 01

Synapsid tetrapod — Chelichnus bucklandi

Permian · Permian; exact age of the Smithsonian display trackway is not established in the current verified source set.

trackway

comparative_trace_fossil_visual

ROOM 01

Amber with insects — Hymenaea protera with ?Reduviidae indet., Apocrita indet., and others

Cenozoic · Precise age of this individual exhibit piece is not established from the official inventory alone.

amber

comparative_amber_inclusion_visual

ROOM 01

Brachiopods — Pentamerus oblongus

Silurian · Silurian; exact numeric age of the Smithsonian display specimens is not established in the current source set.

internal molds

comparative_internal_mold_visual

ROOM 01

Petrified oak wood — Quercus sp.

Not established from the current verified source set. · Exact age not yet established for this display specimen.

petrified wood

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

ROOM 01

Early artiodactyl mammal — Miniochoerus sp.

Paleogene — Oligocene · Approximately 33 million years old for the Miniochoerus skull described by the Smithsonian.

skull

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.