Twenty million year-old petrified tree found on Lesvos

Workers lift a  20 million year old fossilized tree, part of a petrified forest, with a crane on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, in a photo made available Tuesday. The some 19- meter long tree whose branches and roots are still intact was found during roadworks and was transported using a special splint and metal platform. According to Professor Nikos Zouros of the Museum of Natural History of the Petrified Forest of Lesvos, the “unique find” is the first time a tree has been found in such good condition since excavations began in 1995.The UNESCO-protected petrified forest on Lesvos was created after a volcanic eruption 20 million years ago which blanketed the island's subtropical forest at the time under layers of lava. [Reuters]