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The genus has been described as having an unusual—and unusually complex—[[morphology (biology)|morphology]]. Specimens are between {{convert|0.8|m}}<ref name="geisen_berry_2013"/> and {{convert|4|m}} in height.<ref name="ralls"/> Like other [[Cladoxylopsida|cladoxylopsids]], the tree trunk was hollow, and composed of multiple interconnected longitudinal strands of woody material known as [[xylem]].<ref name="cardiff_23oct2017">{{cite web |title=World's oldest and most complex trees |url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/981090-worlds-oldest-and-most-complex-trees |website=Cardiff University |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=23 October 2017}}</ref> As the xylem grew in diameter, they would split apart from one another near the apex of the trunk, thus limiting the overall height.<ref name="cardiff_23oct2017"/><ref name="newatlas">{{cite web |last1=Irving |first1=Michael |title=Strange trees in world's oldest forest ripped themselves apart to grow |url=https://newatlas.com/science/oldest-forest-prototype-trees-calamophyton/ |website=New Atlas |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=13 March 2024}}</ref> ''Calamophyton'' did not have leaves, but rather small branches consisting of "twig-like structures"<ref name="ralls"/> that grew only at or near the apex, and which performed [[photosynthesis]].<ref name="ralls">{{cite web |last1=Ralls |first1=Eric |title=World's 'newest' oldest forest, recently discovered, is full of Calamophyton trees |url=https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-newest-oldest-forest-recently-discovered-is-full-of-calamophyton-trees/ |website=Earth.com |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=7 March 2024}}</ref> As the trunk grew, the lower branches would be shed; a mature tree might in the course of its growth shed as many as 700 to 800 branches,<ref name="geosociety_23feb2024">{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=Neil S. |last2=McMahon |first2=William J. |last3=Berry |first3=Christopher M. |title=Earth's earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |date=23 February 2024 |issue=Accepted manuscript |doi=10.1144/jgs2023-2 |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/jgs2023-204 |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref> creating a thick carpet of decaying twigs on the ground below, supporting further [[biodiversity]]. Whereas other cladoxylopsids shed their branches smoothly, ''Camalophyton'' left small stubs behind on the trunk.<ref name="geosociety_23feb2024"/> |
The genus has been described as having an unusual—and unusually complex—[[morphology (biology)|morphology]]. Specimens are between {{convert|0.8|m}}<ref name="geisen_berry_2013"/> and {{convert|4|m}} in height.<ref name="ralls"/> Like other [[Cladoxylopsida|cladoxylopsids]], the tree trunk was hollow, and composed of multiple interconnected longitudinal strands of woody material known as [[xylem]].<ref name="cardiff_23oct2017">{{cite web |title=World's oldest and most complex trees |url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/981090-worlds-oldest-and-most-complex-trees |website=Cardiff University |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=23 October 2017}}</ref> As the xylem grew in diameter, they would split apart from one another near the apex of the trunk, thus limiting the overall height.<ref name="cardiff_23oct2017"/><ref name="newatlas">{{cite web |last1=Irving |first1=Michael |title=Strange trees in world's oldest forest ripped themselves apart to grow |url=https://newatlas.com/science/oldest-forest-prototype-trees-calamophyton/ |website=New Atlas |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=13 March 2024}}</ref> ''Calamophyton'' did not have leaves, but rather small branches consisting of "twig-like structures"<ref name="ralls"/> that grew only at or near the apex, and which performed [[photosynthesis]].<ref name="ralls">{{cite web |last1=Ralls |first1=Eric |title=World's 'newest' oldest forest, recently discovered, is full of Calamophyton trees |url=https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-newest-oldest-forest-recently-discovered-is-full-of-calamophyton-trees/ |website=Earth.com |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=7 March 2024}}</ref> As the trunk grew, the lower branches would be shed; a mature tree might in the course of its growth shed as many as 700 to 800 branches,<ref name="geosociety_23feb2024">{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=Neil S. |last2=McMahon |first2=William J. |last3=Berry |first3=Christopher M. |title=Earth's earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |date=23 February 2024 |issue=Accepted manuscript |doi=10.1144/jgs2023-2 |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/jgs2023-204 |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref> creating a thick carpet of decaying twigs on the ground below, supporting further [[biodiversity]]. Whereas other cladoxylopsids shed their branches smoothly, ''Camalophyton'' left small stubs behind on the trunk.<ref name="geosociety_23feb2024"/> |
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The root system consisted of several hundred to more than a thousand (depending on specimen maturity) "strap-like" roots of no more than a few millimetres in diameter and at least several |
The root system consisted of several hundred to more than a thousand (depending on specimen maturity) "strap-like" roots of no more than a few millimetres in diameter and at least several hundred millimetres in length. The roots were approximately straight, undivided, and extended almost directly downward into the soil. The fossil evidence indicates that in spite of their small diameter, they were hardy. ''Camalophyton'' reproduced not by seeds like modern trees, but via [[spore]]s.<ref name="ralls"/> |
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== Earliest known forest == |
== Earliest known forest == |
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Revision as of 11:11, 14 April 2024
| Calamophyton Temporal range: Middle Devonian
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Pteridophyta (?) |
| Class: | †Cladoxylopsida |
| Order: | †Pseudosporochnales |
| Family: | †Hyeniaceae |
| Genus: | †Calamophyton R.Kräusel & H.Weyland, 1925 |
| Species | |
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Calamophyton is an extinct genus of tree, or "tree-sized plant",[1] that was extant in the Middle Devonian period. As of 2024, a fossilized forest of Calamophyton trees discovered in Somerset, England, represents the earliest known forest.[2]
Discovery
The genus was established in 1926 from specimens collected by R. Kräusel & H. Weyland, in Hardberg and Kirberg, Rhineland, Germany, who identified the type species C. primaevum.[3] A second species, C. renieri, was identified by S. Leclercq in Belgium in 1940; a third, C. bicephalum, also found in Belgium, by Leclercq and H. Andrews in 1960;[3] and a fourth, C. forbesii, in the Mapleton Sandstone, Maine, United States, by James M. Schopf in 1964.[4] It has since been suggested that C. primaevum and C. bicephalum may be the same species.[5] All specimens date to the Middle Devonian, some 385 to 395 million years ago.[3][4][6]
Description
The genus has been described as having an unusual—and unusually complex—morphology. Specimens are between 0.8 metres (2 ft 7 in)[1] and 4 metres (13 ft) in height.[7] Like other cladoxylopsids, the tree trunk was hollow, and composed of multiple interconnected longitudinal strands of woody material known as xylem.[8] As the xylem grew in diameter, they would split apart from one another near the apex of the trunk, thus limiting the overall height.[8][9] Calamophyton did not have leaves, but rather small branches consisting of "twig-like structures"[7] that grew only at or near the apex, and which performed photosynthesis.[7] As the trunk grew, the lower branches would be shed; a mature tree might in the course of its growth shed as many as 700 to 800 branches,[10] creating a thick carpet of decaying twigs on the ground below, supporting further biodiversity. Whereas other cladoxylopsids shed their branches smoothly, Camalophyton left small stubs behind on the trunk.[10]
The root system consisted of several hundred to more than a thousand (depending on specimen maturity) "strap-like" roots of no more than a few millimetres in diameter and at least several hundred millimetres in length. The roots were approximately straight, undivided, and extended almost directly downward into the soil. The fossil evidence indicates that in spite of their small diameter, they were hardy. Camalophyton reproduced not by seeds like modern trees, but via spores.[7]
Earliest known forest
In March 2024, paleontologists reported the discovery of a fossilized forest of Calamophyton trees in the Hangman Sandstone Formation at Minehead, Somerset, England. As of the reporting date, it is the earliest forest yet discovered.[2][7][9] At an age of 390 million years, the forest pre-dates the previously oldest-known example—a root system probably belonging to Archaeopteris, discovered in 2009 near Cairo, New York[11]—by about four million years.[2][7][9] In the Middle Devonian period, when the Calamophyton forest was formed, the Somerset region would have been adjacent to Germany and Belgium.[2][7]
According to Dr. Christopher Berry, one of the scientists involved in the discovery, the unprecedented preservation of the Calamophyton forest allows researchers to see "for the first time, these trees in the positions where they grew",[7] thus providing the "first opportunity to look directly at the ecology of this earliest type of forest, to interpret the environment in which Calamophyton trees were growing, and to evaluate their impact on the sedimentary system."[7]
References
- ^ a b Geisen, Peter; Berry, Christopher M. (May 2013). "Reconstruction and Growth of the Early Tree Calamophyton (Pseudosporochnales, Cladoxylopsida) Based on Exceptionally Complete Specimens from Lindlar, Germany (Mid-Devonian): Organic Connection of Calamophyton Branches and Duisbergia Trunks". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 174 (4): 665–686. doi:10.1086/669913. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d Devlin, Hannah (7 March 2024). "World's oldest fossilised trees discovered along Devon and Somerset coast". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Leclercq, Suzanne; Andrews, Henry N. Jr. (Feb 1960). "Calamophyton bicephalum, a New Species from the Middle Devonian of Belgium". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 47 (1): 2. doi:10.2307/2394614. JSTOR 2394614.
- ^ a b Kasper, Andrew E. Jr; Gensel, Patricia G.; Forbes, William H.; Andrews, Henry N. Jr. "Plant Paleontology in the State of Maine - A Review". Digital Maine. Maine Geological Survey. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Leclercq, Suzanne (Aug 1969). "Calamophyton primaevum: The Complex Morphology of Its Fertile Appendage". American Journal of Botany. 56 (7): 773. doi:10.2307/2440597. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Introduction to the Cladoxylopsida". University of California Museum of Paleontology. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ralls, Eric (7 March 2024). "World's 'newest' oldest forest, recently discovered, is full of Calamophyton trees". Earth.com. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b "World's oldest and most complex trees". Cardiff University. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Irving, Michael (13 March 2024). "Strange trees in world's oldest forest ripped themselves apart to grow". New Atlas. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b Davies, Neil S.; McMahon, William J.; Berry, Christopher M. (23 February 2024). "Earth's earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England". Journal of the Geological Society (Accepted manuscript). doi:10.1144/jgs2023-2. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ Barras, Colin (19 December 2019). "Scientists have discovered the world's oldest forest—and its radical impact on life". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 18 March 2024.