buried by earthquake
What was life like on Earth 350 million years ago is hard to picture. Fossils from that era are incredibly rare, and the trunk and crown of ancient trees seldom survive together. Today, a startling discovery reshapes what scientists thought about prehistoric forests. The find would look at home in a science fiction or alien landscape, with shapes that defy expectations.
Five tree fossils remained buried after a powerful earthquake. They date from roughly 350 million years ago and were found in a quarry in New Brunswick, Canada, as reported by researchers in Current Biology.
These unusual fossil trees appear not only striking but also as clues to a period of life on Earth about which little is known. The scientists describe them as time capsules that offer windows into landscapes and ecosystems far in the past.
They are described as time capsules by Robert Gastaldo, a paleontologist and sedimentologist who led the study. He emphasizes that the fossils are rare opportunities to glimpse ancient ecosystems as they stood millions of years ago.
Co authors Olivia King and Matthew Stimson uncovered the first of the ancient trees during fieldwork at a New Brunswick rock quarry in 2017. One specimen stands out as one of the few complete plant fossils in a record that spans more than 400 million years. The branches and leaves at the top of the tree remain attached to the trunk, a remarkable preservation that allows scientists to study its architecture.
Gastaldo notes that very few tree fossils from Earth’s earliest forests exist. There are only five or six well documented specimens. The crown of this tree is preserved in a remarkable condition from the Paleozoic era, according to Gastaldo, who teaches geology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Most preserved trees from ancient times are small stumps or trunks attached to root systems. In this case, researchers encountered a fully preserved tree that, when mature, could have reached around 4.5 meters in height with a crown spanning about 5.4 meters. The find left the paleontologist speechless, reflecting the rare nature of such discoveries.
Researchers named the fossil plant Sanfordiacaulis after the quarry owner Laurie Sanford, who supported the excavation. The team found four related specimens after years of digging, revealing a plant form that they believe existed in the late Devonian to early Carboniferous period. While the fossil resembles a fern or palm in some aspects, these trees were not documented until roughly 300 million years later. The most complete specimen shows more than 250 leaves still clustered around the trunk, with each leaf measuring up to about 1.7 meters in length. The fossil rests in sandstone and is roughly the size of a small car, emphasizing the colossal nature of this ancient tree.
The fossilization may have occurred during a catastrophic landslide driven by an earthquake. The fossils suggest that the trees were alive when the tremor struck, sank into a lake momentarily, and then the lake reemerged, preserving the scene in stone. Paleontologists describe this sequence as a key factor in the exceptional preservation of these complete trees.
Notably, the full completeness of these plants makes them rarer than the typical fossil record, which often captures only stumps or partial trunks. A scientist not involved in the study notes that finding entire fossil trees is less common than discovering complete dinosaurs. The discovery is described as a relic from a time when tree fossils were extremely scarce, underscoring the exceptional nature of the find.
A failed experiment in tree evolution
The evolution of living things is best understood as a series of experiments where some lines thrive while others fail. This fossil suite offers a look at a plant design that did not continue to dominate Earth’s forests. The researchers suggest Sanfordiacaulis represents a failed evolutionary experiment, and the size and form of these trees indicate a lineage that did not persist in the long run.
Fossils like Sanfordiacaulis help scientists understand how life changed over deep time and may offer clues about where life on the planet is headed. Gastaldo sees the discovery as evidence that early plants existed alongside the first invertebrates, adapting to a dynamic environment. The earthquake that helped fossilize these trees also provides new geological data about Earth’s systems during that era.
For further context, the full study is published in Current Biology, with detailed descriptions of the fossils and their significance. The researchers emphasize the importance of continued exploration in ancient sites to uncover more about Earth’s earliest forests and the conditions that shaped plant evolution. This work contributes to a broader understanding of how life responds to catastrophic events and how such events can preserve remarkable snapshots of ancient ecosystems.
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Note: the expedition and analysis highlight the ongoing need for fieldwork in remote locations to uncover the Earth’s hidden history and to illuminate the processes that shape planetary life over countless eras.