Fossil Examples

From studies of the fossils collected from these shales it can be determined that the ancient plant community compares most closely to two modern forests, the Mixed Northern Hardwood Forest and the Mixed Mesophytic Forest. Both forests exist on Mainland China. They have similar climates, but of the two, the Mixed Mesophytic Forest lives in a narrower range of climatic conditions. From this comparison scientists infer that the ancient environment at the Leaf Hill site had higher moisture levels (about 40 inches of rain per year), less severe temperature extremes and seasonal variation, and an over-all warmer climate than the present.