The scale tree fossil taken on June 19, 2016. (Xinhua)
Experts have dismissed the wide-spread online rumor that a fossil recently found in southwest China's Yunnan Province is that of a boa. They say the so-called "dragon fossil" is a scale tree fossil dating back to 250 million years ago.
The fossil, 130 cm long and 17 cm in diameter, was discovered near a river in Yunnan's Zhenxiong county earlier this month. Local villagers believed the fossil belongs to a boa or even imagined it as a dragon which actually only exists in Chinese legendary because they could see "scales" on it.
The fossil was stolen the night it was discovered. The remaining parts have been moved to safety by local cultural authorities.
Archaeologists said that it is a typical scale tree fossil, which belongs to the late Permian period, a geologic period extending from 298.9 to 252.17 million years ago.
Scale trees thrived during the Carboniferous period and Permian period between 350 million to 250 million years ago, and were able to grow as high as 50 meters, according to Feng Zhuo, a professor with Yunnan University.
