World's oldest forest unearthed in UK cliffs, rewrites Earth's history
The fossils, which are the oldest known remains of a forest, were discovered in sandstone cliffs along the coast of Devon and Somerset, in the southwestern part of England. These remarkable fossils are dated to at least 390 million years ago.
Remains of the oldest forest on Earth found by scientists
Analysis of this extraordinary discovery was conducted by teams from two renowned universities - Cambridge and Cardiff, both in the UK.
According to these researchers, this is the oldest known fossilised forest on our planet. It is about four million years older than the previous record-holder, whose fossils were discovered in New York State in the United States.
The forest discovered in England dates back to the Devonian period, which began 419 million years ago and ended 358 million years ago. It was during this time that life on Earth began to rapidly expand onto land. By the end of this era, seed plants appeared on land, and arthropods began to dominate.
The fossilised tree fragments that were discovered resemble palms at first glance. Their trunks were hollow inside, instead of being filled with solid wood. These trees also did not have leaves, and their branches were covered with something that looked like small twigs.
These ancient trees were much shorter than their modern descendants. The largest of them reached just about 2 to 4 metres in height. As the trees grew, they shed their branches, creating a layer of litter on the ground that served as a home for invertebrates.
