In Brazil, a team of scientists has discovered fossils from a forest 290 million years old, before the arrival of dinosaurs on Earth.
In Parana, southern Brazil, scientists have discovered fossils of forest trees, where the city of Ortigueira is currently located. This forest was made up of 164 lycophyte trees, without flowers, fruits or seeds, of a variety that has now disappeared.
Photo credit: AFP
According to scientists, these fossils are 290 million years old, well before the arrival of dinosaurs on Earth. At that time, the earth’s crust formed a single continent.
“These plants, whose age is estimated at 290 million years, represent very primitive life forms in the history of the Earth”said Thammy Mottin, a geologist at the University of Parana.
Photo credit: AFP
A 290 million year old fossilized forest
According to the researchers, this forest is “the most important in the southern hemisphere” because the fossils have been found in large quantities and are very well preserved. If the trees are extremely well preserved, it is because they were buried when they were still alive, then covered with sediment. The forest was then preserved as it was when it was covered by a flooding river that froze.
Photo credit: AFP
“This forest shows how the first plants spread, how they were distributed in space and how they interacted with other life forms”a expliqué Thammy Mottin.
For the scientific community, this finding is a great discovery that will allow us to learn more about the evolution of plants over the centuries.
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