Umbria

Glyptostrobus europaeus

Fossil plant trunk

Description

The Dunarobba Fossil Forest, dating back approximately 2.5 million years, is unique both for the"mummified" state of preservation of the trunks, in which cellulose and lignin are still abundant, and for the high diversity of fossil plant species identified through leaves, seeds, fruits, and pollen.

The site contains over 45 trunks in physiological position, the most impressive of which belong to Glyptostrobus europaeus, a conifer related to cypresses and sequoias. The trunk selected as a regional fossil is approximately 3.8 meters tall and 3 meters in diameter. It features branches that show a downward growth inversion, a natural biomechanical mechanism that increased trunk stability, and the trunk could have reached a total height of 30-35 meters. The root systems extended up to 10 meters deep into silty clay deposits that were likely heavily waterlogged at the time.

Unlike many other European fossil forests, the Dunarobba forest can be visited directly in its original location, which a few million years ago was a lake surrounded by marshes.

Classification and size comparison

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Pinophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Order: Cupressales

Family: Cupressaceae

Genus: Glyptostrobus

Species: †Glyptostrobus europaeus
(Brongn) Heer 1855

  • ERA: Cenozoic
  • PERIOD: Neogene
  • EPOCH: Peistocene
  • ETÀ: Gelasiano (2.6-1.8 Ma)
Explore the complete Geologic Time Scale

Parco della Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba, (TR)

Discover the geopaleontological site

Catalogue number:
Tronco 4V

Explore the Park's website

Gallery

Detail of a portion of the 4V trunk and, at the bottom left, a fragment with perfectly preserved color; at the bottom right, a section of a Glyptostrobus; this branch was studied by Bice et al. (2019).

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The fossil forest yesterday

Historic photo from the early 1980s, capturing the trunks as they appeared shortly after their discovery. 4V, the winning trunk, is circled. Courtesy of Soprintendenza ABAP of Umbria.

Historic photo of another Glyptostrobusnumber 5V.

The fossil tree trunks are considered "immobile" palaeontological remains and therefore do not have a ministerial cataloguing number. However, they have been identified and mapped with progressive numbers, which appear on the maps kept at the Regional Superintendency.

The fossil forest today

Aerial view of the Dunarobba area and the Fossil Forest. Each trunk is protected by a special shelter.

Courtesy of Soprintendenza ABAP of Umbria.

Paleoart corner

Bibliography:

  • Ambrosetti P., Basilici G., Ciangherotti A.D., Codipietro G., Corona E., Esu D., Girotti O., Lo
    Monaco A., Meneghini M., Paganelli A. & Romagnoli M. (1995). La foresta fossile di Dunarobba
    (Terni, Umbria, Italia centrale): contesto litostratigrafico, sedimentologico, palinologico,
    dendrocronologico e paleomalacologico. Il Quaternario, 8: 465-508.
  • Baldanza A., Sabatino G., Triscari M. & De Angelis M.C. (2009). The Dunarobba Fossil Forest
    (Umbria Italy): mineralogical transformations evidences as possible decay effects. Periodico di
    Mineralogia 78: 51-60.
  • Basilici G. (2008). Vita e morte di una foresta di Glyptostrobus sp. del Pliocene superiore. In: Barili
    A., Basilici G., Cerquaglia Z. & Vergoni S. (eds.), Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba – Ricerche. Ediart,
    Todi, 35-48.
  • Bice D.M., Csank A., Macalady A., Montanari A., Tierney D., Baldanza A. (2019). Paleoclimate
    implications of earliest Pleistocene tree rings from the Dunarobba Fossil Forest, Umbria, Italy. In:
    Koeberl C. & Bice D.M. (eds.) 250 Million Years of Earth History: Celebrating 25 years of the
    Geological Observatory of Coldigioco. GSA Special Papers, 542.
  • Biondi E. & Brugiapaglia E. (1991). Taxodioxylon gypsaceum (Goppert) Krausel in the fossil forest
    of Dunarobba (Umbria, Central Italy). Flora Mediterranea 1: 111-120.
  • Cerquaglia Z. (ed.) (1996). Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba – Ricerche. Ediart, Todi, 106 pp.
  • Martinetto E., Bertini A., Basilici G., Baldanza A., Bizzarri R., Cherin M., Gentili S. & Pontini M.R.
    (2014). The plant record of the Dunarobba and Pietrafitta sites in the Plio-Pleistocene
    palaeoenvironmental context of central Italy. Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, 27: 29-72.

Credits and acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr Elena Roscini of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’Umbria for sharing the multimedia material used on this page go.

Reproduction, distribution, or any other use is prohibited without prior authorization from the rights holders.

Thanks also to Professor Angela Baldanza and Professor Marco Cherin of the University of Perugia for their support and collaboration.