Rare ancient tree discovery has scientists ‘gobsmacked’.

CNN/ Microsoft Start ^ | 2.02.2024 | Ayurella Horn-Muller

[Carriage Hill]

Trees are believed to have originated hundreds of millions of years ago. Ever since, evidence of these ancient plant sentinels has been in short supply. Now, a new discovery of uniquely 3D tree fossils has opened a window into what the world was like when the planet’s early forests were beginning to evolve, expanding our understanding of the architecture of trees throughout Earth’s history.

[Carriage Hill]

Five tree fossils buried alive by an earthquake 350 million years ago were found in a quarry in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, according to a study published Friday in the journal Current Biology. The authors said these new and unusual fossil trees not only bear a surprising shape reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss illustration, they reveal clues about a period of life on Earth of which we know little. “They are time capsules,” said Robert Gastaldo, a paleontologist and sedimentologist who led the study, “literally little windows into deep-time landscapes and ecosystems.”

Coauthors Olivia King and Matthew Stimson unearthed the first of the ancient trees in 2017 while doing fieldwork in a rock quarry in New Brunswick. One of the specimens they discovered is among a handful of cases in the entire plant fossil record — spanning more than 400 million years — in which a tree’s branches and crown leaves are still attached to its trunk.

Few tree fossils that date back to Earth’s earliest forests have ever been found, according to Gastaldo. Their discovery helps fill in some missing pieces of an incomplete fossil record.

“There are only five or six trees that we can document, at least in the Paleozoic, that were preserved with its crown intact,” said Gastaldo, a professor of geology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

[Twotone]

That would definitely be an interesting tree to have in one’s yard.

[Carriage Hill]

The researchers excavated the first fossil tree about seven years ago, but it took another few years before four more specimens of the same plant were found in close proximity to one another. Dubbed “Sanfordiacaulis,” the newly identified species was named in honor of Laurie Sanford, the owner of the quarry where the trees were unearthed.

The forms taken by these previously unknown 350 million-year-old plants look somewhat like a modern-day fern or palm, per the study, despite the fact that those tree species didn’t appear until 300 million years later. But while the tops of ferns or palms as we know them boast few leaves, the most complete specimen of the newly discovered fossils has more than 250 leaves preserved around its trunk, with each partially preserved leaf extending around 5.7 feet (1.7 meters).

That fossil is encased in a sandstone boulder and roughly the size of a small car, according to Stimson, an assistant curator of geology and paleontology at the New Brunswick Museum.

The unique fossilization of the cluster of trees is likely due to a “catastrophic” earthquake-induced landslide that took place in an ancient rift lake, he said.

“These trees were alive when the earthquake happened. They were buried very quickly, very rapidly after that, at the bottom of the lake, and then the lake (went) back to normal,” Stimson said.

Finding complete fossil trees is rare and much less common than finding a complete dinosaur, according to Peter Wilf, a professor of geosciences and paleobotanist at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved with the study. Wilf noted via email that the “unusual” new fossil tree was a relic of a time period from which there are almost no tree fossils.

“The new fossils are a milestone in our understanding of how early forest structure evolved, eventually leading to the complex rainforest architectures that support most of Earth’s living biodiversity,” Wilf added.

[PrairieLady2]

Isn’t that different! It’s almost a palm tree.

[Red Badger]

[Carriage Hill]

I would have liked to have had that specimen in my 20ac Nursery/ Garden Center/ Landscape Contracting Operation of 35yrs. Both in the Display Gardens and for sale to customers.

[Carriage Hill]

Reminds me of a Psilocybin trip back in the late-60s...

[smokingfrog]

It’s hard to imagine a world without trees. And the poor termites would have very little to eat.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Can’t they just watch old re-runs of ‘The Flintstones’ to look at the trees of the time? ;)

Interesting stuff. Nature always wins. :)

[Carriage Hill]

LOL!

Mother Nature is nothing, if not resilient.

[Delta 21]

They had quarries 350 million years ago?

[Carriage Hill]

And we’d all be living inside stone dwellings, with no #2 pencils, toothpicks or anything wood or paper-related. Interesting to think about... just like they did thousands of years ago.

[Carriage Hill]

They found the fossil in a modern day quarry, while mining building stone.

[Joined2Justify]

I want to know what it looks like quarter sawn, and should I use shellac or BLO?

[Carriage Hill]

Doesn’t say if it’s hardwood or softwood cambium. Probably can’t tell since there’s no DNA remaining.

[Verginius Rufus]

I have a couple of dawn redwoods in my back yard—a tree that was believed to be extinct until some living specimens were discovered in China.

[ansel12]

FR should make a rule that you have to post the actual story, not send people through an inferior and multiple click version of it at a leftwing portal.

[UCANSEE2]

FR should make a rule that you have to post the actual story,

We can't get people to quit using profanity or respect other posters and attack the subject not the poster..... and you want another rule.

Good luck with that.

[ansel12]

We block sources all the time, block and sometimes unblock, block certain photo sources, limit excerpts, even block the source entirely at times, it wouldn’t amount to anything, just an article posting clarification.

[Carriage Hill]

Good idea!
You could take that directly to John or Jim, and get a quick hearing, ansel12. They might be receptive...