Post Impact Rain Forest Found

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Ancient-Rainforest.html

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) -- Scientists digging south of Denver say they
have uncovered evidence of a lush and vibrant rainforest that emerged
surprisingly soon after the asteroid collision that wiped out the
dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The fossils of more than 100 kinds of towering conifer trees, huge ferns
and blooming flowers challenge scientists' long-held assumption that a
desolate Earth took about 10 million years to recover from the catastrophe
and sprouted only a few dreary plant varieties for a long time.

Instead, the finding suggests that plant life -- at least at this now-dry
prairie along Interstate 25 -- was flourishing as early as 1.4 million
years after the impact. Some of the tree fossils measure 6 feet in
diameter.

``It not only recovered, it went crazy,'' said Kirk Johnson, paleontology
curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. He reported the
findings in the latest issue of the journal Science.

In fact, scientists said it might be the earliest example on record of a
true tropical rainforest.
...
``I never would've put this so early in the Paleocene,'' said Leo Hickey,
paleobotany curator at Yale's Peabody Museum. ``A flora of this diversity
and richness is really striking.''

In their study, Johnson and Denver museum associate Beth Ellis said a
comparison of fossils before and after the apparent asteroid impact
indicate that the forest is not a holdover from the days of the dinosaurs
but something that sprang up later.

Also, Johnson said the plants that grew there are not the same type as
those that grew during the pre-asteroid Cretaceous Period. Instead, they
are more closely related to other plants that typically grew during the
Paleocene.

The ancient rainforest was more vibrant than some tropical locations
today. Museum researchers have identified at least 104 plant species at
the Castle Rock site. In contrast, many modern research sites in Brazil
contain 40 to 60 plant species, while a location in Peru contains as many
as 293.
...