Researchers discovered the Cairo Fossil Forest in 2009, but the discovery was not announced until 2019. (Image credit: Photo by Charles Ver Straeten, distributed with permission of Binghamton University, The State University of New York) AT A GLANCE
Name: Cairo Fossil Forest
Location: Cairo, New York
Coordinates: 42.320497982992606, -74.04507745235895
Why it's incredible: This forest contains some of the oldest trees in the world.
The Cairo Fossil Forest is a unique collection of 385-million-year-old trees preserved in an abandoned quarry in upstate New York. Researchers say the forest contains some of the oldest trees in the world, as well as the oldest known specimens of trees with leaves and thick, woody trunks.
The remains of ancient trees are buried beneath the quarry floor, but they form patterns on the surface that reveal where the tree trunks and roots once anchored themselves to the ground. Some of the fossilized roots are nearly 15 centimeters thick, according to Science Magazine, and the largest root networks extend 11 meters from the trunks.
You may like
-
The earliest wooden tools discovered in East Asia suggest that ancient people made planned expeditions to dig for edible plants.
-
One of the tallest trees in the world, a centuries-old Doerner fir, is burning in Oregon.
-
Ancient shark discovered deep inside world's longest cave system
These trees likely belong to the Archaeopteris, an extinct group of trees with fern-like leaves that are related to modern trees. Research suggests that Archaeopteris trees reached heights of over 20 meters by the end of the Devonian Period (419.2–358.9 million years ago), also known as the “Age of Fishes” due to the enormous diversity of species within this group of animals.
The emergence of the first Archaeopteris trees marked a turning point in Earth's history, as they helped absorb and retain carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, changing the composition of the planet's atmosphere. These plants also accelerated the process of weathering, in which intertwining roots break down rock, exposing it to air and triggering a chemical reaction that converts CO2 into carbonate ions. These ions eventually enter the ocean and bind to form limestone, experts reported in the journal Science.
According to Berry, before the discovery of the Cairo Fossil Forest, the oldest known trees of the genus Archaeopteris were 365 million years old. The discovery of the Cairo Fossil Forest in 2009 suggests that these prehistoric trees appeared at least 20 million years earlier, but the precise date of their first appearance on Earth remains unknown.
Although the Cairo Fossil Forest is the earliest example of trees developing leaves and thick trunks, it is not the oldest in the world. In 2024, scientists discovered 390-million-year-old plant fossils in southwest England, ending the Cairo Fossil Forest's claim to being the oldest known forest. These older fossils belong to an extinct species of palm-like plant thought to be closely related to ferns and horsetails.
MORE INCREDIBLE PLACES
—Fossil Forest, Dorset: 145-million-year-old tree stump fossils in England preserved by ancient microbes.
— Valley of the Whales: A whale graveyard in the Sahara Desert, showing that they once had feet and toes.
— Kilimanjaro's Giant Senecios: Strange Plants That Thrive on Africa's Highest Mountain
“They have a long central stem and palm-like leaves coming off of it, but these palm leaves aren't really leaves, they're just lots of little branches,” Neil Davies, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge in the UK, told Live Science at the time.
Plants similar to those found in southwest England were discovered just 40 kilometers from the Cairo Fossil Forest in Gilboa, New York. The Gilboa Fossil Forest is 382 million years old and was first excavated in the 19th century. It held the title of “the oldest forest in the world” until researchers discovered it in Cairo.
Discover even more incredible places as we explore the fantastic history and science behind some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth.
TOPICS incredible places
Sasha Pare, Social Link Navigation, Staff Writer
Sasha is a staff writer for Live Science based in the UK. She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Southampton in England and an MA in Science Communication from Imperial College London. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and on the health website Zoe. Besides writing, she enjoys playing tennis, baking bread, and browsing thrift stores.
You must verify your public display name before commenting.
Please log out and log back in. You will then be asked to enter a display name.
Exit Read more
The earliest wooden tools discovered in East Asia suggest that ancient people made planned expeditions to dig for edible plants.
One of the tallest trees in the world, a centuries-old Doerner fir, is burning in Oregon.
Ancient shark discovered deep inside world's longest cave system
We know that humans originated in Africa, but archaeology is only just beginning to uncover the secrets of the continent's early civilizations.
The oldest and most complete ancient Egyptian human genome ever sequenced reveals links to Mesopotamia.
A 1.8-million-year-old human jawbone has been discovered in Georgia. This may be the earliest evidence of Homo erectus.
Latest news about plants
'This needs to be done quickly': Scientists rush to cryopreserve endangered tree before it disappears
Chinese scientists have created multi-colored succulents that glow in the dark and are charged by sunlight.
Plants have a secret second set of roots located deep underground that scientists didn't know about.
Kilimanjaro's Giant Senecios: Strange Plants That Thrive on Africa's Highest Mountain
'This shouldn't be published': Scientists question study claiming trees 'talk' before solar eclipses
Explore the reconstructed home of the “polar dinosaurs” that thrived in Antarctica 120 million years ago.
Latest features
Science Story: DART, humanity's first asteroid deflection mission, hits space rock in the face – September 26, 2022
Doctors restored a man's vision by removing a tooth and implanting it in his eye.
Cairo Fossil Forest: The oldest forest in North America, with trees 385 million years old.
Paralvinella hessleri: A yellow worm that lives in acid and fights poison with venom.
Why does Pluto have such a strange orbit?
What happened to the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?
LATEST ARTICLES
1″Gold coins started appearing one after another”: A 1,400-year-old hoard of money and jewelry was discovered near the Sea of Galilee.
Live Science magazine is part of Future US Inc., an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate website.
- About Us
- Contact Future experts
- Terms and Conditions
- Privacy Policy
- Cookie Policy
- Accessibility Statement
- Advertise with us
- Web notifications
- Career
- Editorial standards
- How to present history to us
© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.
var dfp_config = { “site_platform”: “vanilla”, “keywords”: “type-regular,serversidehawk,videoarticle,van-enable-adviser-
Sourse: www.livescience.com
