Prehistoric forest unearthed in northern Hungary

The perfectly preserved trunks of bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) have been unearthed in an open-cast lignite mine in Bükkábrány, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. The trees grew in the swampland that surrounded the freshwater lake that occupied the Transdanubia region millions of years ago. It is extremely rare for wood to be preserved in this way, soft tissues are more commonly petrified, or literally "turned to stone" by stone seeping into cavities and cells.

According to origo.hu, the standing trunks are 4 to 6 meters tall, and the largest have a diameter of 1.5 to 3 meters. The rare prehistoric findings were all found within a 100 square meter area. The tops of the conserved trunks are cut off where a layer of gray sand is covered by another layer of yellow sand. Experts suspect that the prehistoric marsh was covered by the gray sand suddenly, perhaps during a fierce storm. The grey sand was free from bacteria and so prevented the trunks from eroding. The wood not covered by the sand rotted away, leaving only the trunks.

Fossilized forests and pieces of trunks have been found around the world from almost every geological period. Branches have been discovered earlier in Bükkábrány, but this is the first time standing tree trunks have been found perfectly preserved.

Unfortunately, the unique nature of the find also means it cannot survive in the open air. The trunks were moist when they were unearthed and immediately began to dry out, crack and crumble to pieces. Before they are completely destroyed, geologists led by Dr. Miklós Kázmér (ELTE Paleontology Department) and Dr. Lilla Hably (Plant Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum) will perform tests on them to determine their exact age and the climate in which they lived. Due to the ongoing scientific work, the findings are not open to the public.

Hungary is rich in fossilized remains of sea creatures but not of large land animals, because its territory was sea bed during most of the period when dinosaurs roamed the planet. However, a small number of dinosaur footprints and bones have been found.

Footprints were first discovered in 1966 in the Mecsek Hills near the southern city of Pécs and later in nearby Komló, and the Mecsek dinosaur was named Komlosaurus carbonis after the latter. The prehistoric reptiles of the Mecsek lived on a swampy seashore 190 million years ago. Based on their 15-centimeter footprints and the length of their steps, their bodies were around three meters long.

Dinosaur bones were first found in Hungary in 2000 but not in the Mecsek as expected. The reptiles named Hungarosaurus tormai were four-meter-long, shielded animals and lived in the present-day territory of the Bakony Hills, north from Lake Balaton, some 85 million years ago.

Tourists interested in paleontology will enjoy the exhibitions on prehistoric findings in Ipolytarnóc, Nógrád County, and in Villány, Baranya County.

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