Scientists thought this dinosaur-era tree went extinct 150 million years ago — but then it was found growing wild in Australia.
On the supercontinent Gondwana, a genus of cone-bearing evergreen trees known as Wollemia lived during the Jurassic Period. Until 1994, when a few survivors of one species were discovered living in a temperate rainforest in Australia's Wollemia National Park, these ancient trees were only known from the fossil record and were thought to be extinct for 150 million years. Wollemia Nobilis is frequently referred to as a living fossil. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as critically endangered, with only about 80 mature trees remaining, along with 300 seedlings and juveniles. While Wollemia Nobilis is the last of its genus, other middle Mesozoic trees can still be found today. Ginkgo biloba, a
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