{{Short description|Genus of ancient conifer}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Late Jurassic |Paleogene}} | taxon = Parataxodium | authority = Arnold and Lowther }}
'''''Parataxodium''''' is an extinct genus of conifer that belonged to the subfamily Taxodioideae,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=Chester A. |last2=Lowther |first2=J. Stewart |date=June 1955 |title=A NEW CRETACEOUS CONIFER FROM NORTHERN ALASKA |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=522–528 |doi=10.1002/j.1537-2197.1955.tb11156.x |issn=0002-9122|hdl=2027.42/141474 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> a group included within cypress family.<ref name=":0" /> It is known primarily from fossilized remains dated to the Late Cretaceous period and is considered morphologically intermediate between modern genera such as ''Taxodium'' (bald cypress) and ''Metasequoia'' (dawn redwood).<ref name=":0" /> One species is known, '''''Parataxodium wigginsii'''''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Rothwell |first=Gar W. |last2=Stockey |first2=Ruth A. |last3=Smith |first3=Selena Y. |date=2020-12-01 |title=Revisiting the Late Cretaceous Parataxodium wigginsii flora from the North Slope of Alaska, a high-latitude temperate forest |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120302780 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=116 |article-number=104592 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104592 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Although it belongs to the swamp cypress family, it inhabited a much wider range of environments, including the cooler regions of Alaska.<ref name=":1" /> Although most fossils come from the Cretaceous, specimens are also known from both the Jurassic and the Paleogene.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=†Parataxodium Arnold and Lowther 1955 (conifer) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=412132 |website=PBDB.org}}</ref>
==Distribution== Fossils are known from China, Canada and the United States (such as in Alaska, North Dakota and Montana).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q136349772}}
Category:Cupressaceae Category:Prehistoric gymnosperm genera Category:Conifer genera