In the Catskill Mountains in southeastern New York, USA, scientists have discovered a fossilized root system dating back 386 million years. This is considered the oldest known forest in the world.
Remnants of an ancient forest have been identified at a quarry near Cairo, New York. The fossils have been dated to 386 million years ago, making them the oldest fossils known to date. According to scientists, this new site not only provides insight into how Earth’s climate has changed over time but also serves as evidence that forests developed 2 to 3 million years earlier than previously thought. The findings were recently published in Current Biology and New Scientist.
“Charles just walked across the quarry floor and noticed these large root structures, which are quite remarkable,” said Christopher Berry from Cardiff University in the UK, referring to Charles Ver Straeten at the New York State Museum, who first discovered the fossils in 2008.
Researchers found three types of plants at this site – evidence that ancient forests consisted of various plant species. One of these, belonging to the genus Archaeopteris, had roots extending up to 11 meters long. This species is similar to modern conifers and is the first known to have evolved flat green leaves.
Remnants of an ancient forest identified at a quarry in the USA.
At an abandoned quarry near the town of Cairo, New York, scientists unexpectedly discovered the remnants of the oldest forest that ever existed in Earth’s history. This discovery is considered a breakthrough in the history of life formation on the planet. As these ancient trees grew with such root clusters, they absorbed carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and locked carbon away.
Previously, the oldest Archaeopteris fossils found were no more than 365 million years old, Berry noted. The exact time when this plant evolved into modern trees remains an unclear milestone.
However, the discovery in Cairo now shows that Archaeopteris began its transition around 20 million years earlier, according to Patricia Gensel, a paleobotanist at the University of North Carolina.
“The size of these root systems has really changed our perspective,” she said. Twenty years ago, researchers believed that trees with such large and complex root systems did not develop early in geological history.
Archaeopteris not only nurtured and supported life forms around it but also helped drive the evolutionary process of life, covering the entire Earth.
William Stein, a biologist at Binghamton University in New York and the lead author of the new study, stated: “Archaeopteris seems to reveal the beginnings of what future forests would ultimately become. Based on what we know from previous fossil evidence of Archaeopteris and now from the evidence of roots we have added, these plants evolved much faster than other Devonian plants. Although still significantly different from modern trees, Archaeopteris appears to have pointed the way for the future evolution of forests at that time.”
Stein and his team also discovered evidence of “scale trees” from the class Lycopsida – plants that were thought to have existed only during the Carboniferous period millions of years later, at the end of the Devonian. Therefore, these new findings provide evidence that forests developed much earlier than previously known.
This forest was not devoid of animal life.
Christopher Berry, a paleontologist at Cardiff University, UK, mentioned that the rock layer where the research team found fossils is about half the size of a football field. It is a layer that cuts through just below the surface of the ancient forest.
In fact, when considering the age of the forest, we can understand that at its peak of growth, there were no birds, terrestrial vertebrates, or dinosaurs on Earth. These species only appeared and evolved 150 million years after this forest emerged.
However, this forest was not devoid of animal life. Instead, it likely housed creatures similar to millipedes and other insects. “It’s funny to think about a forest without large animals,” Chris Berry, a paleontologist at Cardiff University and co-author of the new study, told The Guardian.
Forests and their evolution have played a central role in shaping the climate and ecosystems of our planet. By capturing carbon dioxide, these forests reduced greenhouse gas levels to similar levels as in the modern era, significantly cooling the planet. According to Sandy Hetherington at the University of Oxford, fossil studies may help provide clues about the relationship between deforestation and modern climate change.
She stated: “Understanding how this occurred in the past is crucial for predicting what will happen in the future due to climate change and deforestation.”
