"Jurassic" Tree Planted At London Park

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"200 Million Year Old" Tree Planted At London Park

Naturalist Sir David Attenborough plants a Wollemei Pine at Kew Gardens in London 10 May, 2005. The Wollemi pine, which was discovered in Australia after it was believed to be extinct for two million years, is making its debut in the UK at Kew Botanical Gardens and at Kew's sister garden at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. AFP photo by Carl De Souza.

London (AFP) May 10, 2005
A "Jurassic" tree dating from the dinosaur age and long thought to have been extinct for 200 million years was planted Tuesday at a park in London by British wildlife expert Sir David Attenborough.

One of the rarest trees in the world, the Wollemi Pine was found in Australia by a national parks officer, David Noble, in 1994.

The discovery astonished botanists worldwide who had thought the tree died out millions of years ago.

"How marvellous and exciting that we should have discovered this rare survivor from such an ancient past," Attenborough said as the tree went on public display at Kew Gardens.

"It is romantic, I think, that something has survived 200 million years unchanged," he said.

Tony Kirkham, head of the arboretum at Kew, was one of the people allowed to see the tree in its natural habitat in Australia's Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

"In botanic terms, it is like a zoologist going out and finding a live dinosaur somewhere, a Tyrannosaurus Rex," he said.

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Killer Dinosaurs Turned Vegetarian

Salt Lake City UT (SPX) May 09, 2005
Scientists have discovered a mass graveyard of bird-like feathered dinosaurs in Utah. The previously unknown species provides clues about how vicious meat-eaters related to Velociraptor ultimately evolved into plant-munching vegetarians.