Upright trunks
In growth position.
Juan Carlos Cisneros — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Juan Carlos Cisneros — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Juan Carlos Cisneros — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Juan Carlos Cisneros — CC BY-SA 3.0 · MTur Destinos — Public domain
The Teresina Fossil Forest is a fossil site on the banks of the Poti River within the city, preserving petrified wood from the Permian period, about 280 to 270 million years ago. It stands out for its many petrified trunks still upright in their growth position, and is the only fossil site inside a Brazilian state capital. The geologist Miguel Arrojado Lisboa discovered it in 1909, and later studies revealed trunks in life position and a species new to science. The site became a municipal park on 8 January 1993 and was listed by the Ministry of Culture on 25 October 2010. Most of the fossil plants are gymnosperms, with some ferns, including Psaronius and Teresinoxylon eusebioi. Because the trunks stand upright, they were fossilised exactly where they grew, as silica replaced their wood. The park is open-air and improvements are planned; go early in the morning before the heat.
In growth position.
City riverbank.
Teresinoxylon.
Banks of the Poti River, Avenida Raul Lopes, Teresina, Piauí
Upright petrified trunks where they grew, and it is the only fossil site inside a Brazilian capital.