The Yea Flora Fossil Site is a roadside cutting on Limestone Road, Yea,

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. It contains fossils of genus

Baragwanathia ''Baragwanathia'' is a genus of extinct lycopsid plants of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age (), fossils of which have been found in Australia, Canada, China and Czechia. The name derives from William Baragwanath who discovered the first specim ...

, some of the world's earliest

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s dating back to the begin of the Devonian period, 415 million years ago. The fossils were discovered in 1875, but the significance was not recognized until they were studied in the 1930s by Australian botanist

Isabel Cookson Isabel Clifton Cookson (25 December 1893 – 1 July 1973) was an Australian botanist who specialised in palaeobotany and palynology. Early years and education Cookson was born at Hawthorn, Victoria, and attended the Methodist Ladies' College ...

. Her work overturned long held scientific understandings of how and when plants evolved. The site is listed on the

Australian National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...

References

Australian National Heritage List Paleozoic paleontological sites of Australia Silurian paleontological sites Silurian Australia Paleontology in Victoria {{Australia-geology-stub

See also

References