In early 2024, the oldest fossil forest ever discovered, dating back 390 million years, was discovered in southwest England
Exceptionally preserved plant fossils of 350 million-year-old strange bushy trees have been discovered in southeastern Canada. In the UK, researchers have discovered a fossil forest of small, palm-like trees and arthropod tracks dating back to the Middle Devonian. Petrified trees discovered by chance in southwest England belong to the oldest known forest on Earth, a new study has found. The 390-million-year-old fossils displace the 386-million-year-old Gilboa Fossil Forest in New York state as the oldest known forest in the world.