Metasequoia, or dawn redwood, is a living fossil redwood tree that grew throughout Europe and North America beginning in the Late Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago.

These 100-foot tall trees once shaded dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, Edmontosaurus and Triceratops in the Hell Creek Formation of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana where there was an inland sea. There is only one type of Metasequoia alive today – Metasequoia glyptostroboides.

Despite having needle-shaped leaves, this tree was deciduous and dropped its foliage each year and regrew them each spring, just like living metasequoia.

Metasequoias are the smallest of the redwood trees. They had small, round seed-bearing cones that were arranged on specialized stalks. 

Includes label

Type: Metasequoia Pinecone
Age: Cretaceous (65 million years ago)
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Locality: South Dakota 

Size: 1 x .88 x .88 inches
Weight: .45 oz.