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A new fossil walnut, Juglans eocinerea sp. nov, very similar to the fossil Juglans tephrodes Unger and the extant butternut Juglans cinerea L., is described and illustrated based on nut specimens from the Beaufort Formation (Miocene?) on southwestern Banks Island. Extremely good preservation permitted the following external measurements: length, maximum width, maximum width to base, maximum thickness, maximum thickness to the base, and the internal measurements: seed length, seed width, maximum seed depth, divided width, length and width of the major septum, and wall thickness.In addition, ratios such as length to width, length to maximum width to base, length to height, length to distance from maximum height to base, length to seed length, seed length to width, length to length of major septum, and seed depth to height are calculated.These measurements were also made on the fossil J. tephrodes Ung., and the extant species J. nigra L. and J. cinerea L.Comparisons with modern and fossil forms indicate that the fossil is most closely related to the fossil Juglans tephrodes, but is also very similar to Juglans cinerea. It is suggested that the fossil is ancestral to both J. tephrodes and J. cinerea and that it explains the anomalous occurrence of the latter species in North America.
Hills et al. (1974) studied this question.