typhlonectes: Flowering plants may be 100 million years older than we thoughtFlowering plants may ha
typhlonectes: Flowering plants may be 100 million years older than we thoughtFlowering plants may have evolved 250 million years ago, more than 100 million years earlier than the oldest fossilised flowers so far found.Today, flowering plants – known as angiosperms – are the most diverse group of land plants. The oldest angiosperm fossils so far found are 135 million years old, and many researchers believe this is when the group originated. The fossil record suggests the group then became diverse by 130 million years ago.But how flowering plants became highly diverse so shortly after their emergence has long perplexed researchers, including Charles Darwin. The fossil record and genetics offer conflicting evidence, with the latter pointing to a much older origin…Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266189-flowering-plants-may-be-100-million-years-older-than-we-thought/Okay now that is very important for paleontology and our understanding of extinct ecosystems.For the longest time, my generation was taught that flowering plants did not appear until the Cretaceous period, conguring up the image of a mostly flowerless Mesozoic period until its last stage.This study changes that paradigm and therefore a lot of what the trophic cycle of ecosystems was!! -- source link
#paleontology#botanic#science#mesozoic