science

Pinus peregrinus

Pinus peregrinus is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pinus peregrinus rather than just read about it. In short: Pinus peregrinus is an extinct species of pine in the family Pinaceae known from Clarkforkian age Paleocene fossils found in western North Dakota, USA. The species was described from three wing seed specimens found at localities 14051a and 14083 in the Bear Den member of the Golden Valley Formation with associated needles from the Heart River Bluffs area, site 14051a, provisionally assigned to the species also.

Key takeaways

Pinus peregrinus belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pinus peregrinus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pinus peregrinus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pinus peregrinus is an extinct species of pine in the family Pinaceae known from Clarkforkian age Paleocene fossils found in western North Dakota, USA. The species was described from three wing seed specimens found at localities 14051a and 14083 in the Bear Den member of the Golden Valley Formation with associated needles from the Heart River Bluffs area, site 14051a, provisionally assigned to the species also. The Bear Den member outcrops at a number of sites in western North Dakota, and is designated the type locality. The holotype specimen, number PU 20091, is preserved in the Princeton University collections, and paratype specimens are in the National Museum of Natural History collections of the Smithsonian Institution. The specimens were studied by paleobotanist Leo J. Hickey of the Yale University Geology Department. Dr Hickey published the 1977 type description for P. peregrinus in the Geological Society of America memoir 150, Stratigraphy and Paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (Early Tertiary) of Western North Dakota. Dr Hickey chose the specific name peregrinus, which is Latin meaning "stranger" or "newcomer" noting the species to be the first megafossil record for the pine family to be described from Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Paleocene rocks. The winged seeds of Pinus peregrinus are between 20 and 23 millimetres (0.79 and 0.91 in) long and have a nutlet located in the base of the wing to one side of the wing axis. The small, 4 to 5 millimetres (0.16 to 0.20 in) long nutlet is three sided and generally deltoid to ovoid in shape. The wing possesses a thickened inside margin that is straight, while the thin outside margin arches from nutlet to distal tip of the wing. The wing membrane is slightly striated parallel to the wing margins and curving towards the outside margin near the tip. This combination of characters is specific to the genus Pinus, and the seeds are most similar to the modern Pinus resinosa and Pinus tropicalis. The needles provisionally included in P. peregrinus can reach up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long with a distinct midrib.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pinus peregrinus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pinus peregrinus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pinus peregrinus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pinus peregrinus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pinus peregrinus

In research: Pinus peregrinus appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pinus peregrinus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pinus peregrinus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Extinct flora of North America, Paleocene plants, Pinus, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pinus peregrinus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pinus peregrinus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pinus peregrinus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pinus peregrinus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pinus peregrinus in simple terms?

Why does Pinus peregrinus matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pinus peregrinus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pinus peregrinus.