Discovery of the Oldest Forest in the World in Germany

Results from fossil tests of primitive trees found in Germany in 2008 and 2009 have provided evidence that these trees are the oldest known forest on Earth. On Tuesday, September 10, the German news agency reported, quoting Stefan Müller, spokesperson for the Bonn National Museum, that 'these forests are 390 million years old, long before the dinosaurs.' These ancient tree-like plants, known as calamophyton, are said to have grown on sandy islands in shallow seas that later became hilly areas known as 'Bergisches Land.' At that time, this land was located near the equator and enjoyed a tropical climate year-round. Scientists suspect that these plants were swept away by a flood or possibly a tsunami caused by an earthquake, or even by the sliding of continental slopes into the sea, and were quickly buried by a layer of sand and mud, turning into fossils. A mass of the discovered fossils will be displayed to the public on Saturday at the archaeology branch of the Bonn Museum. The state of Rhineland announced that new studies date the findings near the municipality of Lindlar on the eastern bank of the Rhine River to the mid-Devonian geological period. Before this period, most terrestrial plants (likely compared to marine ones) were soft and low in height.