The claim is irresistible: a lush woodland petrified between spring and fall, branches frozen mid-sway, leaves translated into mineral lace. It sounds like folklore, or a special effect from a disaster film, yet the science behind rapid “stone-making” in nature is far more nuanced – and far more interesting. Under the right conditions, parts of ...
When you think of , probably the first things that come to mind are those famous colorful logs turned to stone. But beneath this stunning landscape lies a treasure trove of ancient secrets that’s rewriting what we know about life on Earth over 200 million years ago. Scientists are discovering that this park isn’t just ...
A gull-sized flying reptile has emerged from fossil-rich layers of Arizona’s Petrified Forest, revealing the earliest known pterosaur in North America. Named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, this delicate creature lived 209 million years ago and shared its ecosystem with turtles, amphibians, and armored reptiles, capturing a moment of evolutionary transition before the end-Triassic extinction. A Fossil Treasure ...
