Overview
Fossil plants dated to the Miocene period have been collected from the North and South Islands. This set of specimens includes all the locations except Kaikorai near Dunedin.
There is a fascinating collection of tiny coconuts from the extinct Cocos zeylandica.
The Miocene covers the period from 23.03 to 5.33Mya and the presence of a coconut palm suggests a warm climate.
The fossils from this series have all been imaged and can be seen below.