{"id":421109,"date":"2025-09-13T12:45:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421109\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T12:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:45:22","slug":"370-million-year-old-fossil-found-on-a-torbay-cliff-could-rewrite-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421109\/","title":{"rendered":"370 million year old fossil found on a Torbay cliff could rewrite history"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was found in 2024 by Dr Kevin PageThe 377 million year old tree fossil from Saltern Cove, now on display at Torquay Museum (Credit: Submitted).<\/p>\n

A prehistoric tree fossil, believed to be more than 370 million years old, has been unveiled to the public after being carefully recovered from a cliffside on the South Devon<\/a> coast.<\/p>\n

The specimen, discovered at Saltern Cove in the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark, went on display on Saturday, September 6, at Torquay<\/a> Museum.<\/p>\n

The fossil is thought to come from a primitive tree known as a lycopsid, which grew no taller than four metres and bears a striking resemblance to today\u2019s Torbay<\/a> palm. Scientists say it could provide the first evidence of trees thriving on a Devonian desert island.<\/p>\n

It was found in 2024 by Dr Kevin Page, President of ProGEO and honorary senior research fellow at the University of Exeter<\/a>, during a condition survey of protected sites in the area. Dr Page said: \u201cThese fossils are incredibly significant as they provide valuable insights into the prehistoric environment of Torbay, including the presence of volcanic islands with trees growing on them. This could potentially be the first record of a Devonian desert island with trees, a truly remarkable find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the fossil\u2019s rarity and the risk of erosion from winter storms, the Geopark\u2019s coordinator, Melanie Border, organised a recovery operation. A specialist team of geologists carefully excavated the specimen, which was then winched up the cliff under expert supervision.<\/p>\n

Ms Border said: \u201cTo date our Devonian age rocks have only provided evidence of a marine environment but we now have evidence of volcanic islands and trees too. What\u2019s truly remarkable is that this is not just a first for us but a global first, giving the discovery true international significance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fossil, now under the care of Torquay Museum\u2019s curators, is being displayed in the museum\u2019s entrance lobby while it undergoes further academic study. Alexandra Hemming, senior executive at the museum, said: \u201cCaring for this ancient tree fossil is a real privilege. This amazing fossil is one of the rarest from the Devonian period and certainly the most significant item we have in our collections from this era.\u201d<\/p>\n

A public event to mark the display included a geology introduction by Dr Page and the launch of a YouTube mini-series exploring the region\u2019s deep-time history.<\/p>\n

The fossil forms part of a wider collection recovered from Saltern Cove and highlights the international importance of the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark, which spans Brixham<\/a>, Paignton<\/a> and Torquay along with the bay\u2019s marine environment.<\/p>\n

Further information is available at www.torquaymuseum.org<\/a> and www.englishrivierageopark.org.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was found in 2024 by Dr Kevin PageThe 377 million year old tree fossil from Saltern Cove,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[91855,41353,4729,98874,70,77611,16,15,1737],"class_list":{"0":"post-421109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-brixham","9":"tag-exeter","10":"tag-museums","11":"tag-paignton","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-torquay","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-youtube"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115197059247655934","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}