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Earliest flowering plants: Sensational discovery from Portugal!
New research project at the University of Hanover uncovers the earliest flowering plants: eudicots existed 2 million years earlier.
Earliest flowering plants: Sensational discovery from Portugal!
An international team of scientists consisting of researchers from the Leibniz University Hannover and the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, has gained new insights into the development of flowering plants (angiosperms). The research specifies the earliest known appearance of these plants and sheds light on the history of evolution on Earth.
Previous theories have been revised to show that eudicots, a major group within the angiosperms, existed not just around 121 million years ago, but at least two million years earlier. This information is corroborated by analysis of fossils and pollen that have been precisely dated to 123 million years ago.
The project and its progress
The project “Palynological investigations into the earliest phase of angiosperm evolution” was launched in October 2020 and is funded with 255,000 euros. It runs until March 2025. The researchers managed to detect the oldest pollen from dicotyledonous flowering plants in rock formations from Portugal. The analysis took place in coastal marine deposits of the Lusitanian Basin, shedding light on the geographical distribution and evolution of angiosperms.
The exact dates for determining the age of the fossil pollen were determined using a combination of strontium isotope analyzes and biostratigraphic information. This made it possible to precisely detect the first appearance of eudicots.
Pollen structure and evolutionary significance
Eudicot pollen is characterized by its tricolpate structure - meaning it has three small grooves in its outer shell, which affects 72% of living angiosperm species. This structure is crucial for classifying and understanding evolution among flowering plants. In contrast, monocots and other basal dicots have monocots pollen patterns.
The eudicots themselves are a monophyletic group and show significant differences in flower morphology. In the large clade of core eudicots, floral constructions tend to be more stereotypical and often display a peculiar structure that is distinct from basal eudicots. This includes a nectar-producing structure that is essential for pollination.
Regional occurrence and further research questions
The geographical location of the Lusitanian Basin suggests that early angiosperms may have been distributed primarily in mid-latitudes. However, it remains unclear exactly under what conditions these plants developed and what influence plate tectonic processes and climate changes had on their evolution.
In summary, the results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), offer new perspectives on the origins and evolution of flowering plants and expand our knowledge of plant evolution on Earth. These significant advances in palynology demonstrate the dynamic interplay between research, technology, and the history of our planet.