The fossil record of a flower bud found in China may provide the key to explaining how the plants known as angiosperms (which have both a flower and a fruit) came to be. The finding indicates that flowering plants emerged tens of millions of years earlier than previously thought.
The oldest fossil records of angiosperms are no more than 130 million years old. Enter 20 to 30 million years later, these plants began to dominate ecosystems in a rapid adaptability.
How they developed such diversity in such a short time was one of the pieces of the evolutionary puzzle that Charles Darwin was trying to understandbut he died without an answer. But some of these answers have emerged in recent years.
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Chinese researchers announced, in 2016, the discovery of a “perfect flower”, dating from the Jurassic period — more than 145 million years ago. Call euanthus panii, the plant had petals, sepals (the base of the bud), and male and female reproductive structures.
In 2018, another fossilized flower was found in China, the Nanjinganthus, with an estimated age of 174 million years. Much like modern plants, its seeds were sealed in its ovary. However, botanists have not yet reached a consensus on whether these are true angiosperms.
New fossil flower record
The new flower discovered now in China, named florigerminis jurassica, may be representative of the transition from gymnosperms — older plants that have seeds but no flowers — to angiosperms. The fossil was found in a deposit over 164 million years old and in excellent condition.
The plant’s stem appears attached to its flower bud, a fruit and a branch full of leaves. These three pieces of information together are extremely rare. Because they are delicate structures, it is difficult to find fossil records of flowering plants before the Cretaceous.
the fruit of f. jurassica indicates that the plant is an early angiosperm. Further research needs to be done to understand the true evolutionary relationship of the species, but the study authors believe the discovery is enough to “rethink the evolution of angiosperms.”
The research was published in the Geological Society, London, Special Publications.
