An enigmatic fossil uncovered seven years ago in a New Brunswick quarry has been found to reveal an extinct tree with a narrow trunk and a top like a pompom, a remnant from a time before dinosaurs walked the Earth.
A paper published last week in the journal Current Biology opens a window into a world of plants during the Carboniferous period, when New Brunswick was a tropical land within 10 degrees of the equator.
Matt Stimson, one of the authors of the study, who works at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, said the plant is from a time of flux when flora and fauna were starting to adapt and diversify on land.
The tree was a 害羞草研究所渇ailed experiment of evolution害羞草研究所� and didn害羞草研究所檛 survive, but he said it helps researchers understand the complexity of forests. And finding an intact fossilized tree is unusual, he added.
害羞草研究所淭his is very rare 害羞草研究所� and by very rare, only a few have ever been found in 害羞草研究所� the whole of the fossil record,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淣ot just at this time, but anywhere in geological time, where the stem, the branches, the leaves are attached and complete.害羞草研究所�
The fossil was found in 2017 in a quarry in Norton, N.B., about 80 kilometres southeast of Fredericton. Before publishing, the researchers had to verify their discovery and make sure the science was accurate and that they had actually found something brand new, he said.
害羞草研究所淯ltimately science takes time. Big claims require big proof.害羞草研究所�
Stimson said he was doing summer fieldwork with Olivia King, a graduate student at Saint Mary害羞草研究所檚 University, when they saw a large stone with seeming discoloration, and began to gently excavate around it. The more than 300-million-year-old fossil preserved in a two-tonne boulder then began to reveal itself 害羞草研究所� a spiral configuration of leaves attached to a trunk.
The area where the fossil was found would have been a lake bed, sitting on a fault line, back when the tree grew. Stimson said an earthquake tore down the tree and it was buried in layers of sand.
Adrian Park, a co-author of the paper who works at the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, said another unique thing about the fossil is that it was preserved in a 3D-like state.
害羞草研究所淯sually, a tree falls over and it gets buried in the mud. That mud compacts into a rock, and then in the process, fossils are just pressed down on a single layer 害羞草研究所� on a flat surface,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淲hereas in this case, the branches actually penetrate through the layers. And the layers themselves are very contorted. 害羞草研究所� The sand very quickly poured in from the top and preserved it in three dimensions.害羞草研究所�
The tree, named Sanfordiacaulis densifolia after the quarry where it was found, had a 16-centimetre soft trunk, stood three metres tall and had a 害羞草研究所渂ottle brush害羞草研究所� canopy of 250 leaves, each measuring about 1.75 metres, he said.
Stimson called it more of a 害羞草研究所済iant plant害羞草研究所� than a tree.
害羞草研究所淭hey were like giant ferns or very odd Dr. Seuss-like trees, very different than anything today,害羞草研究所� he said, referring to illustrations by the beloved children害羞草研究所檚 book author.
害羞草研究所淭he branches or the leaves come directly off the stem and they are in a spiral pattern coming out horizontally from the tree 害羞草研究所� in a very dense fashion.害羞草研究所�
Stimson said that structure would have allowed the tree to capture as much sunlight as possible after it travelled through the forest害羞草研究所檚 upper and middle canopies to the ground level where smaller shrubbery type plants of its kind sat.
This plant tells us what the forest was like back then, he said. There are not many fossils of plants from this period on Earth, known as Romer害羞草研究所檚 gap. Although this plant was a failed experiment, those that have survived are ancestors to the forests today but in a much different form, he added. The club mosses, for instance, he said, were up to 30 metres in height during the early Carboniferous period but now measure just a few centimetres.
The Carboniferous period when these trees were found was also a time of transition with swamps teeming with life, including ferns with spores, millipedes and giant, salamander-like creatures that were starting to crawl out of the water, he said.
害羞草研究所淭hese early forests harboured and provided a home for the first amphibians that made the transition from water to land. You certainly wouldn害羞草研究所檛 want to go swimming in the waters,害羞草研究所� Stimson said. 害羞草研究所淭here were giant sea scorpions, very big fish with teeth 害羞草研究所� millipedes and other types of bugs were starting to crawl on land.害羞草研究所�
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