Description
Fossilised Wood araucaria Tree, Triassic, 245-200 million years old
This is a chunky branch piece of fossilised wood and from a araucaria tree. It has a superb section of well preserved fossilised bark. It has a highly polished top surface with the sides left in their natural state. The back has been left in its natural state and left unpolished.
The Araucaria is commonly known as the Monkey Puzzle Tree. This was one of the very earliest species of tree, and they grew to 60 metres tall. These trees were growing at the same time the sauropod dinosaur. These sauropods would have been a common sight in these ancient forests. There is a convincing theory, that their long necks evolved to reach the upper branches of these araucaria trees. Fossilised wood from the Mahajanga region of Madagascar is famous for its stunning colours. These include reds and purples and also contrasting shades of brown and grey. The different minerals in the ground during the fossilisation process create these beautiful colours. The amount of iron or manganese present creating different colours. Incredibly the araucaria trees still thrive in the area where this fossil came from. In Madagascar today its importance and history has lead it to become the country’s national tree.
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