February 06, 2007	Tuesday	Muharram 17, 1428

TASHKENT: An 80 million-year-old petrified tree stump found in northwestern Uzbekistan could unlock the secrets of flourishing ancient plant life in what is now a bleak Central Asian landscape, Uzbek scientists said on Monday.

The tree trunk, which is two meters long and 33 centimetres in diameter, was petrified as a result of a volcanic eruption and was found during excavations in the fossil-rich Sulton Uvaisy mountain range near the Amudaria river.

“The Sulton Uvaisy mountain range is widely known by the world's palaeontologists, and many dinosaur remains have been found here,” Uzbek researcher Azimboi Sadullayev said.

But before the trunk was uncovered, “we had no findings that could give us an idea about the plants that flourished here 100-150 million years ago,” he said by telephone from Khorezm province.

A sample of the stony tree was sent to a nuclear physics institute for further research and to identify its exact age, said Sadullayev, who heads the Khorezm Mamun Academy.—AFP