The genome of the Wollemi pine, a critically endangered "living fossil" unchanged since the Cretaceous, reveals extensive ancient transposon activity.

We present the genome of the living fossil, , a southern hemisphere conifer morphologically unchanged since the Cretaceous. Presumed extinct until rediscovery in 1994, the Wollemi pine is critically endangered with less than 60 wild adults threatened by intensifying bushfires in the Blue Mountains of Australia. The 12 Gb genome is among the most contiguous large plant genomes assembled, with extremely low heterozygosity and unusual abundance of DNA transposons.