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LiveScience
LiveScience
Olivia Ferrari

'Alien plant' fossil discovered near Utah ghost town doesn't belong to any known plant families, living or extinct

Utah the Florida Museum of Natural History
A fossilized plant.

Scientists have discovered that an "alien plant" first found near a Utah ghost town 55 years ago doesn't appear to be related to any currently living family or genus.

Paleontologists first found fossilized leaf specimens of the plant in 1969 and named it Othniophyton elongatum, which translates to "alien plant." At the time, they believed the extinct species could be related to ginseng.

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