An ancient forest

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

Scientists recently discovered evidence of a dinosaur-era forest fire locked in stone in southern Saskatchewan. Plant fossils found in the region revealed that forests rebounded from fires much like they do today; plants like alder, birch and sassafras show up first, while gingko and sequoia take much longer to come back.

Stuck in stone

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

"We were looking at the direct result of a 66-million-year old forest fire, preserved in stone," study author Emily Bamforth, shown here, a paleontologist at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, said in a statement.

Plant fossils

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

The plant fossils date back to the Late Cretaceous era, just before the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.

Canadian badlands

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

Dry, treeless badlands cover much of southern Saskatchewan these days, but 66 million years ago, the region filled with wet forests.

Grasslands

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

A view of the badlands in Grasslands National Park in 2009.

Salix leaf

(Image credit: Larsson/Bamforth)

A fossil of a leaf from the Salix genus, which includes willows, found during the study of 66-million-year-old plants in Saskatchewan.