Ancient bacteria have preserved 145 million-year-old tree trunk fossils in Dorset's Fossil Forest.
The remnants of late Jurassic cypress trees can be found in the Fossil Forest in Dorset, a section of the southern English coastline dotted with live limestone mounds. The Jurassic Coast, a 95-mile (153-kilometer) section of southern England's coastline that is dotted with fossils from the Jurassic period (201 million to 145 million years ago), is home to the 145 million-year-old Dorset Fossil Forest. Because of hordes of microscopic, algae-like bacteria that quickly colonized the dead trees, the Fossil Forest is home to some of ...