The fossilized remains of the oldest forest, dating back 390 million years, have been unearthed in the UK. Cambridge University researchers collaborated with Cardiff University to study tree fossils unearthed on the north coast of Devon and Somerset in the United Kingdom.
As per the press release, this discovery predates those unearthed in Cairo and New York in the United States by four to five million years.
“These Calamophyton trees are the oldest fossil trees ever found in Britain and represent an as yet missing part of our vegetational history,” said Christopher Berry, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
“The record of fossil forests, where tree bases are preserved where they were living, so far dates back to those discovered in New York State, at Cairo and Gilboa at about 385 million years,” added Berry.
Examination of forest fossils
The forest fossils were found embedded in high sandstone cliffs along the coast.
The partially intact fossils show trunks up to two meters long and a few tiny branches.
The extensive examination of the fossils revealed that they belong to a group of trees known as cladoxylopsids.
This ancient group is only known through fossil records and likely consisted of ancestors of ferns and horsetails.
The authors stated Cladoxylopsids flourished for as long as about five million years. The Calamophyton trees formed a lush forest that once covered the east coast of the Old Red Sandstone continent, which was part of Europe in those times.
They were eventually supplanted by contemporary woody trees around 385 million years ago.
The ancient trees looked like palm
These ancient trees looked like palm trees.
They possessed hollow trunks with a ring of woody that supported strands around the edges. Instead of leaves, its branches were adorned with hundreds of twig-like structures.
Moreover, the trees were smaller, reaching two and four meters tall.
The trees also shed a lot, which helped the proliferation of invertebrates on the forest floor.
“The shape and forms of these structures taken together strongly suggest that these the Calamophyton were standing alongside a raised bank beside a small river channel,” said Berry.
“I was able to identify the tree trunks based on 30 years studying these types of fossils and particularly having worked on the best and most complete specimens of Calamophyton from Belgium and Germany where they are well known but relatively rare,” added Berry in the press release.
In the Devonian period, the North Devon and Somerset sites were likely much closer to Belgium and Germany. However, it was displaced due to a massive geological fracture during the Carboniferous era, when Africa clashed with Europe.
The discovery of these ancient forest trees may expand our understanding of the evolution of trees.
The study was reported in the Journal of the Geological Society.
Reviewed by Explore With Us
on
March 08, 2024
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