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This was no ordinary forest. What looked like trees were in fact giant ferns, horsetails and club mosses, the fossils of which have been exquisitely preserved in this Scottish park. They offer a glimpse of the botanic wonders that once filled Europe's ancient forests. These club mosses grew a massive 13 meters tall.
Long before birds appeared on the planet, these Carboniferous forests would have echoed to a very different dawn chorus.
Predatory dragonflies were common, and some were absolutely huge. This one, Meganeura, was the size of a hawk, with a wingspan of over 60 centimeters. The forest floor was a bug's world too. Fossil footprints of a millipede show that it was nearly 2 meters long. Over 800 species of cockroach scurried through the ancient undergrowth. And these were preyed on by other giants like scorpions. Some were over 70 centimeters long with a sting to match. These swampy forests were also roamed by the very first land vertebrates: amphibians.
The Carboniferous era was to play a pivotal role in European history. Its 300 million-year-old legacy would eventually revolutionize a modern world. This was the time of great tectonic activity. As the land repeatedly subsided, seas flooded over these great coastal forests. Ravaged by monsoon storms, fallen trees became buried by layers of sand, then mud. Over millions of years, the buildup of sediments compressed this vegetation into this: coal.
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words and expressions
fern:a green plant with long stems, feathery leaves and no flowers蕨类植物
club moss:石松
dawn chorus:the singing of birds together, which happens just before dawn清晨时的鸟叫声
millipede:a small creature with a long cylindrical body consisting of many parts, each part having two pairs of legs马陆；千足虫；倍足纲节动物
undergrowth:a mass of bushes, small trees and plants growing under the trees of a wood or forest:下层丛林;矮树丛，灌木丛
scorpion:a small insect-like creature which lives in hot dry areas of the world and has a long body and a curved tail with a poisonous sting蝎子
to match (在数量和质量上)相当的, 相配的, 调和的
swampy:describes land that is soft and very wet沼泽的, 沼泽多的, 湿地的, 松软的
vertebrate:an animal that has a spine脊椎动物
amphibian:an animal, such as a frog, which lives both on land and in water but must lay its eggs in water两栖动物
Carboniferous:relating to the period of Earth's history during which coal was formed石炭纪
pivotal:central and important枢轴的, 关键的
tectonic:〈地〉结构上的
subside: If a building, land or water subsides, it goes down to a lower level:（土地）下 陷，凹陷
monsoon :the season of heavy rain during the summer in hot Asian countries:季候风
vegetation: plants in general or plants which are found in a particular area:[植]植被, (总称)植物、草木,
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