Coral fossils dating back to some 350 million years ago in Yunxi County, central China's Hubei Province, which suggests that the Qinling Mountains were once a vast sea back then.

Wuhan, China (Xinhua) – Researchers have found a large number of coral fossils dating back to some 350 million years ago in Yunxi County, central China's Hubei Province, which suggests that the Qinling Mountains were once a vast sea back then.

The fossils, of more than 10 coral species during the Devonian period, which was 419 million to 359 million years ago, covered an area of over 300-square-kilometer in the northwestern part of the county.

"All the findings suggest that the northwestern mountainous area of Yunxi was a marine reef at that time," said Zhao Bi, director of the paleontological fossil research center under the Hubei provincial academy of geological sciences.

The Devonian period was also the most important coral reef-building period on the Earth.

Yunxi Daliang, where the coral fossils were unearthed, is an important branch range of the Qinling Mountains. It runs from east to west between Hubei and Shaanxi provinces, with a total length of 60 kilometers, and is the geographical and climatic dividing line between the two provinces, according to Zhao.

Reporting by Indonesia Window