Tree fossil older than dinosaurs discovered

Matthew Stimson, a co-author of the study published in the scientific journal Current Biology, said, "These trees were alive when the earthquake occurred.

They were buried very quickly at the bottom of the lake after the earthquake, and then the lake returned to normal." Scientists stated that this tree was essentially "buried alive" by a major earthquake that took place. 

Robert Gastaldo, a geology expert from Colby College in the US, stated that the fossils, which he described as a "time capsule," could provide information about the Earth's formation during the Paleozoic era.

HARDER THAN FINDING A DINOSAUR FOSSIL

According to a report in Independent Türkiye, dinosaurs did not yet exist during the Paleozoic era, which corresponds to 251.9 to 541 million years ago. Peter Wilf from Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study, said that finding a complete tree fossil is much harder than finding an intact dinosaur fossil. 

Gastaldo stated that the tree, with the Latin name Sanfordiacaulis densifolia, was approximately 4.5 meters tall, with a crown diameter of about 5.5 meters. 

The academic pointed out that only 6 tree fossils from the Paleozoic era with preserved crowns have been found to date, adding that they were "stunned" by the discovery.

 LEAF LENGTH NEARLY 2 METERS

Stating that their examinations of the fossil suggest the tree resembled a palm and had approximately 250 leaves, the scientist expressed that each leaf could have been 1.7 meters long. 

Cindy Looy, a paleobotany expert from the University of California, Berkeley, who did not participate in the research, also commented, "If you were standing under this tree, it would probably look like a giant umbrella to you. Its leaves were almost opaque. It is an unusual and quite cool plant."