Giant fossil rainforest unearthed

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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Giant fossil rainforest unearthed
Giant fossil rainforest unearthed

The forest contained trees, mosses, shrubs and ferns

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The discovery of a vast fossil forest hundreds of metres underground has provided an extraordinary picture of some of Earth's earliest plants.

The exquisitely preserved remains were unearthed in a US coalmine in Illinois, and date back to 300 million years ago.

Writing in the journal Geology, a UK-US team said a diverse array of now extinct fossilised flora could be seen.

Covering a 1,000-hectare (10 sq km) site, it represents the largest fossil rainforest yet discovered.

"This is a significant find," said Professor Andrew Scott, a palaeobotanist from Royal Holloway University, London.