© N. Zouros
Petrified tree • Natural History Museum of the Lesbos Petrified Forest, Greece
Petrified tree • Natural History Museum of the Lesbos Petrified Forest, Greece
The huge tree measured 19.6 meters (21.4 yards) -- complete with branches and a root system --was discovered during in an excavation along the Kalloni-Sigri highway.
Nickolas Zouros, a professor of geology at the University of the Aegean, had been excavating the fossilized forest ecosystem but told CNN he had never uncovered such a find. Experts have found numerous examples of vegetation including conifers, fruit trees and oaks. Zouros added:
"We have a lot of findings over these years but the latest ones are the most important -- really extraordinary. This is not something very often found in excavations. We usually find logs without branches and roots. It's the only one found in the excavation found with the branches, the root system, and was found on a layer full of leaves -- we have all the organs of the tree in the regional system. This is unique, until now -- we have been excavating for 25 years and have never found such a tree."Conifers, fruit producing trees, sequoia trees, pine, palm, cinnamon and oak trees are among the specimens uncovered in the petrified forest.
Comment: See also:
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- Mysterious egalitarian 'megasites' could rewrite history of world's first cities
- Two megalithic groups in Spain found to have different diets, child-rearing and burial practices
- Çatalhöyük: The 9,000 year old community troubled by climate change, over crowding and infectious diseases
And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Dissecting the Vegetarian Myth - Interview with Lierre Keith