Stonebergia Temporal range: Early Eocene |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Genus: |
†Stonebergia Wolfe & Wehr |
Species: | †S. columbiana |
Binomial name | |
Stonebergia columbiana Wolfe & Wehr |
Stonebergia is an extinct genus in the rose family Rosaceae which contains the single species Stonebergia columbiana. The genus was described from a series of isolated fossil leaves in shale from an early Eocene location in southern British Columbia.
Stonebergia has been identified from a location, the type locality, at the "One mile Creek" exposure of the Allenby Formation near Princeton, British Columbia. The Allenby Formation is currently considered to be Early Eocene in age, based on potassium–argon radiometric dating of plagioclase and biotite crystals. The Allenby formation sediments are interpreted as preserved river lake and wetlands systems, with a surrounding mountain environment.
The species was described from a type specimen, the holotype specimen UWBM 54110 A,B and group of eight paratypes, five of which are currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections housed at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, in Seattle, Washington. Another one of the paratypes is placed in the princetone Museum and District Archives and the remaining two paratypes are in the University of Alberta collections. The specimens were studied by the paleobotanists Jack A. Wolfe of the United States Geological Survey, Denver office and Wesley C. Wehr of the Burke Museum. They published their 1988 type description for S. columbiana in the Journal Aliso. In their type description they note the etymology for the generic name Stonebergia is in honor of Margaret Stoneberg from the Princeton District Museum for her support and encouragement of Wolfe and Wehr. The specific epithet columbiana, is a reference to the type locality in British Columbia.