On the fossil remains of low, palm-like trees from the Devonian period in southern England they foundWhen they conducted research in an area of stratigraphic interest called the Exmoor Group. This extends east from Croyde in north Devon to Minehead in west Somerset. The area dates back to 393-383 million years ago. During this era, the present-day United Kingdom was part of a continent called Laurentia, which lay just below the equator and had a warm, dry climate.
Ancestors of primeval forests
The simplest colonial plants probably appeared more than 500 million years ago, slowly separated from water sources, and plants of more severe structure with conductive tissues appeared. The fossil forest, believed to be the oldest to date, was found five years ago in a quarry in Cairo, New York. Researchers said at the time that the forest probably extended from present-day New York state to Pennsylvania, and was 386 million years old.
The ancestors of ferns and horsetails were discovered in the American woods, identified as the cladoxylopsids group and the genus Archaeopteris. They also found the latter's root network, which in some places consists of extensions more than 11 meters long. But they also found a third type of plant, which they could not classify, but they suspected it was bran grass. All of these plants reproduce by spores.
pretender
Forests went from relatively pristine to well-established over the course of a few million years, noted lead author of the study describing the new record, Neil Davies, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
Cladoxylopids are also found in the English forest. This now extinct plant species closely resembled today's palm trees and may be closely related to today's ferns and ferns. They look like palm fronds branching from their long central stems. According to Davis, these trees are about 2 to 4 meters tall They may be.
The fossilized remains of fossil trees are found today in the form of hollow but sediment-filled trunks and fallen logs, with the trunks still having small scars where the branches attach to the trees. The discovery excited researchers, because although ancient trees have been found in other parts of the world, where plants have occupied the land for 500 million years, this is the oldest example of trees growing collectively and closely together. Researchers also found traces of arthropods among the fossil trees.
The accidental discovery of fossilized trees could change what was thought about plant evolution, because 390 million years ago plant arborization appears to have stopped.
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