A paper published this week reports that a recent fossil discovery in Central Utah is changing what researchers know about the emergence of large flowering trees both here in the Mountain West, and around the world.
In 2014, a group of researchers found a large petrified log in an area of Central Utah called the Ferron Sandstone. It wasn't just any petrified log 鈥� it was a fossilized tree that in life would have stood over 150 feet tall.
Scott Williams is a paleontologist who helped make the discovery. He co-authored the . Williams said the tree was unexpected for its size and what it was: a flowering tree, known as an angiosperm.
鈥淭his pushes the date of when we first start seeing these really big trees 鈥� angiosperm trees 鈥� back by about 15 million years,鈥� Williams said.
It鈥檚 also significant because flowering plants had a big impact on their ecosystem, according to Randy Irmis, the curator of paleontology for the Natural History Museum of Utah.
鈥淎ll of a sudden you have all of these social insects like bees and wasps and ants and things. And there鈥檚 even been suggestions that they affected dinosaurs,鈥� Irmis said.
The paper鈥檚 author Scott Williams said the discovery helps create a window into plant species 92 million years ago.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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