What is it about?
This article describes 17 fossil woods from a fossil forest in the northern Peruvian Andes. The forest was growing approximately 39 million years ago during the late Middle Eocene.
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Why is it important?
The fossils document the existence lowland tropical forest growing along an ancient sea coast and show that this forest was similar in many ways to the modern forests of the New World tropics.
Perspectives
The New World tropical forests are amazing for their diversity and it is fascinating to have a glimpse of what these forests were like nearly 40 million years ago. We appreciate all the support we have had in the US and Peru that made it possible to do this research. Also, the fossil forest is open to visitors - see peru.fossilbeds.org - and we think is one of the world's most beautiful fossil sites.
Deborah Woodcock
Clark University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Piedra Chamana fossil woods (Eocene, Peru), IAWA Journal, November 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/22941932-20170175.
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