Fossil plant discovery has 'great significance'

Fossil groups of ancient plants that grew more than 300 million years ago were recently discovered in Shiyan, Hubei province — a discovery that experts say is of "great significance" in the study of prehistoric vegetation.

By comparing plant fossil groups and accounting for the regional layers in which they were found, geologists confirmed that the ancient plant fossils discovered in Shiyan's Yunxi county belong to the early Carboniferous Period and are about 320 to 340 million years old.

The fossils represent another important find in the area after the discovery of dinosaur egg fossils from the Cretaceous Period. It is even older, according to experts.

The new discovery of biological fossils in Yunxi, including fossil bearing layers, are mainly distributed in the southern part of Kanzishan and Huping villages in Kouhui township.

They extend in a narrow northeasterly direction, covering an area of approximately 2.7 square kilometers in a formation of yellow-brown carbonaceous shale mixed with limestone.