Male Cone Double-Texas 03

Taxa: Indeterminate Conifer

Element: Male Cone

Geology: Aguja formation

Age: Cretaceous-Campanian

Locality: Brewster County, Texas

The cones were found in several pieces, so there is some crackfill. No other major restorations.

Male Pine Cones

Male pine cones, or pollen cones, are small, soft, short-lived reproductive structures that produce and release pollen. They are usually much less noticeable than the familiar hard, woody female cones, often forming in clusters on lower branches during spring; wind carries their pollen to female cones for fertilization.

Aguja formation

The Aguja Formation is a Late Cretaceous geological formation in West Texas, primarily exposed in the Big Bend National Park region. It dates to the Campanian stage (approximately 80–72 million years ago) and consists of fluvial, coastal, and deltaic deposits. The formation preserves a diverse fossil record, including dinosaurs such as hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, pachycephalosaurs, tyrannosaurs, and dromaeosaurs, as well as turtles, crocodilians, and early mammals. The Aguja Formation provides important insights into the ecosystems of North America during the Late Cretaceous, showing a rich and varied landscape of rivers, floodplains, and coastal environments.