World's earliest fossilised forest discovered in Minehead, Somerset
World's earliest fossilised forest discovered in Minehead, Somerset
The tree fossils dating back 390 million years were found near a Butlin's holiday camp in Somerset.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Scientists have found what they believe to be the world's earliest known fossilised forest in cliffs on the coast of South West England.
They show how early trees helped shape landscapes and stabilised riverbanks and coastlines hundreds of millions of years ago.
The researchers say the fossil forest is about four million years older than the previous record holder in New York State.
It was found in the Hangman Sandstone Formation along the Devon and Somerset coasts and dates back to the Devonian Period, between 419 and 358 million years ago, the time of life's big expansion onto land.
The researchers say that the area of the find was at the time a semi-arid plain, attached not to England, but to parts of Germany and Belgium, where fossil of such trees have also been found.
The most similar modern counterpart might be Dicksonia antarctica, a type of tree fern native to Australasia, but popular in Britain as an ornamental plant.
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