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This "family circle" of fossilized stumps grew out of the single trunk of an older parent tree. The tree trunks are ancient clones, or genetically identical copes, of that parent tree.
Modern coastal redwoods also reproduce by stump sprouting. If a redwood is toppled or burned, a ring of new trees often sprouts from burls (roots that stick out of the ground) around the trunk's base. In the coastal redwood forests, family groups are common. But this trio of stone stumps is unique in the world's fossil record!
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