February 16, 2024
Recent studies have found that the kelp forests along the Pacific Coast are much older than what scientists had previously estimated. Scientists recently discovered fossilised kelp holdfasts that date back 32 million years. A holdfast is a structure that looks like a root and attaches the kelp to the seabed. The fossils of the kelp holdfasts found were still clutching onto barnacles and clams and are much older than the oldest known kelp fossil, which dates back 14 million years. According to scientists, ancient kelp forests might have been an important food source for a presently extinct creature called desmostylian, which was related to modern-day elephants and manatees.
DID YOU KNOW?
Some kelp species can grow more than 100 feet tall.
