Articles tagged with Plant Fossils
The discovery of Ganiopteris, a 360-million-year-old seed plant from China, provides clear evidence of the earliest-known leaf-borne ovules. This finding marks a major evolutionary milestone and sheds new light on the origin of Permian glossopterids.
Researchers found five stages of silicic acid formation in fossilised wood, spanning 200 million years and documenting temperature, pressure, and composition conditions. The study uses quartz cathodoluminescence, fluid inclusions, and other techniques to reconstruct the geological history of the Saale Basin in central Germany.
A new study found that massive wildfires occurred in fern-dominated landscapes across Northwest Europe during the Triassic period, lasting from 40,000 to 300,000 years. The research team used a novel technique to detect dark-colored microfossils, indicating prolonged and intense wildfires.
A unique plant fossil cache in New Mexico reveals angiosperms flourished 10 million years before dinosaurs' demise, contradicting the view that they only took over after their extinction. The discovery showcases a thriving forest dominated by flowering plants with large fruits, challenging the traditional narrative.
Researchers found that carbon from land was eroded and transported into the ocean, locking some carbon away for long periods. This process may have acted as a stabilising climate feedback, helping to gradually reduce atmospheric carbon levels over thousands to tens of thousands of years.
Scientists mapped the genetic history of ancient grapevines from Tuscany's Cetamura del Chianti settlement, discovering a single, identical variety passed down for centuries. The study found that white grapes were dominant in ancient Chianti, contradicting the region's modern reputation for red wines.
Researchers have identified a new species of ancient symbiotic fungus preserved within a 407-million-year-old plant fossil from Scotland. The discovery provides unprecedented three-dimensional insight into one of the earliest known plant–fungus partnerships, known as mycorrhiza.
Salterella, a tiny Cambrian creature, has been reclassified with cnidarians due to its unique shell structure and mineral composition. The research team suggests that Salterella's shell served a distinct purpose, possibly related to feeding or stability.
Researchers at the University of Missouri have confirmed a more nuanced view of the Mazon Creek fossil site, using modern data analysis techniques to assess paleoenvironmental and taphonomic nature. The study reveals three identifiable paleoenvironments, including transitional habitats between nearshore and offshore zones.
A Smithsonian-led team has discovered North America's oldest known pterosaur, dating back to the late Triassic period around 209 million years ago. The fossilized jawbone of the new species was found alongside hundreds of other fossils, including a turtle with spike-like armor and an ancient frog relative.
A recent study published in Current Biology found that sauropods, a type of herbivorous dinosaur, relied heavily on their gut microbes for digestion. The analysis of plant fossils in the dinosaur's gut suggests that they engaged in minimal oral processing and instead ate bulk feeders.
Scientists studied plant fossils and climate models to understand the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. The study found a 10°C rise in global temperatures and dramatic changes in ecosystems.
A new study by Connecticut College reveals that palm trees once thrived in subarctic Canada during the late early Eocene, approximately 48 million years ago. This finding indicates a warmer climate with ice-free winters, unlike previous assumptions.
Researchers used ancient plant DNA to study the impact of global warming on plant diversity and interactions. They found that temperature changes led to fundamental shifts in ecological conditions, with some plant species supporting each other during cold periods.
Scientists at La Brea Tar Pits have identified a mysterious fossil seed, unlocking key findings on past environmental changes and megafaunal extinction. The discovery highlights the vulnerability of junipers to modern climate change and informs conservation efforts.
A new study has uncovered a rare plant fossil with unusual flowers, fruits, and stems that does not belong to any living family or genus. The discovery suggests there may be more diversity in the fossil record of flowering plants than previously recognized.
Researchers at Uppsala University analyzed fossilized feces of dinosaurs, revealing undigested food remains and plants, which helped recreate the structure of ecosystems during the Late Triassic period. The study suggests that early herbivorous dinosaurs' love for plant shoots was crucial to their evolutionary success.
A 15-year study of an ancient ecosystem in Bolivia provides a comprehensive view of the Earth's past, revealing warmer temperatures and lower elevation. The team found fossils of diverse animals and plants, reconstructing the site as a dry forest or wooded savanna with palms and bamboos.
Researchers analyzed steroids from animal dung in lake sediments to determine the dominant large herbivores that lived in northern Yellowstone National Park. The study found bison and elk as primary species for the last 2,300 years, with impacts on local ecosystems.
Researchers have discovered a new plant seed fossil, Alasemenia, which provides insight into the origin and early evolution of wind dispersal strategies in plants. The study found that Alasemenia's three-winged seeds are more adapted to wind dispersal than one, two, or four-winged seeds.
A new study published in the Journal of Systematics and Evolution reveals that the ancestors of grape plants were already in Europe 41 million years ago. The discovery of a new fossil species, Nekemias mucronata, provides key insights into the evolutionary history of the grape family.
Researchers have discovered a remarkably preserved fossil site in Massachusetts that provides a rare glimpse into terrestrial life from over 300 million years ago. The findings reveal a diverse ecosystem of early land-dwelling animals and plants, including some of the oldest known examples of their groups.
A new study reveals that the Amazon's remarkable variety of plants and animals was shaped by woodlands and savannas connecting forest islands during the last Ice Age. The researchers used advanced climate and vegetation modelling techniques to provide a new understanding of the region's evolution.
A team of sedimentologists and stratigraphers found that gap regularity, not incompleteness, determines evolutionary history reconstruction. Incompleteness can be overcome with geological knowledge, enabling accurate reconstruction of evolution hundreds of millions of years ago.
Researchers discovered large fossil beans in Indonesian Borneo, indicating the ancestors of black bean trees migrated from Asia to Australia during tectonic plate collision. The findings provide first macrofossil evidence of a plant lineage moving from Asia into Australia.
Scientists discovered nine new species of fossil grapes in Colombia, Panama, and Peru, spanning from 60 to 19 million years old. The oldest fossils found in the Western Hemisphere support a connection between the grape family's evolutionary journey and the mass extinction event.
Scientists have discovered three new extinct walnut species on a Canadian island above the Arctic Circle, preserved in a unique form of fossilization known as mummification. The fossils provide valuable information about the Earth's climate and ecosystems during the middle Eocene period, when forests covered the region.
Ancient rodent middens offer critical archives of the last 50,000 years, preserving plants, insects, bones and other specimens. Researchers are calling for improved preservation, new research and field studies to understand how populations responded to past climate change.
Early hunter-gatherers in central Chile regularly visited Tagua Tagua Lake between 12,440-12,550 years old to hunt ancient elephants and process other local resources. The discovery of the fossil remains of a gomphothere at the site provides insights into the subsistence strategies of early humans during the Late Pleistocene.
A new study found that massive flood basalt volcanism drove mass-extinction and disturbance, while extreme climate change and Hg-pollution continued to stress plants long after volcanic activity had ceased. The results show that ferns were robust enough to continue thriving despite mercury poisoning.
Scientists discovered a 201-million-year-old fossilized plant that exhibited net-like veining, similar to modern flowering plants. The ancient plant, Furcula granulifer, is part of an extinct group of seed ferns that failed to evolve efficient leaves.
A new study uses machine learning to classify fossils of extinct pollen with high accuracy, leveraging morphological features and phylogenetic data. The model successfully placed nearly all specimens within Podocarpus based on their shape and form.
Scientists have discovered the oldest fossilized forest on Earth, dating back 390 million years, in the Devon and Somerset coast of South West England. The fossils, known as Calamophyton, are a 'prototype' of modern trees, with characteristics such as hollow trunks and twig-like structures.
The discovery of fossilized trees with a surprising three-dimensional crown shape reveals that some ancient plants were experimenting with unusual growth forms to maximize light capture. The 350-million-year-old tree, known as Sanfordiacaulis, had over 250 leaves and a dense canopy extending at least 5.5 meters around its non-woody trunk.
Researchers have discovered the oldest known fossils of the Frankincense and Myrrh family in Indian chert, dating back to the Cretaceous period. The fossils were preserved in pyrenes, which are woody dispersal pods that protect seeds from digestion.
A new study reveals that cycad species that survived the dinosaur extinction relied on symbiotic bacteria in their roots for nitrogen. This discovery sheds light on how these plants adapted to changing environments and could provide insights into understanding Earth's climate history.
A 312-million-year-old fossil found in the Carboniferous Rhode Island Formation provides evidence of how internal feeding, known as leaf mining, may have originated. The discovery sheds light on the evolution and behavior of holometabolous insects, including modern-day moths, beetles, flies, and wasps.
A new study found that flowering plants suffered some species loss but became the dominant type of plant after the mass extinction event. They adapted through various seed-dispersal and pollination mechanisms, genomic duplication, and innovative photosynthesis methods.
A new study has uncovered that plants evolved gradually over time, with episodic bursts of innovation to overcome environmental challenges. The research found that changes in plant anatomy occurred in association with events where the entire cellular genetic make-up was doubled, likely due to errors in genome-copying.
Researchers discovered the largest known single dinosaur track site in Alaska, dubbed 'The Coliseum', which contains layer upon layer of prints preserved in rock. The site provides a unique record of multiple species of dinosaurs thriving in Interior Alaska nearly 70 million years ago.
The rare moss Takakia has developed unique adaptations to survive frost, high UV radiation, and extreme altitudes. Climate change is altering its natural habitat, posing a threat to this ancient species.
The fossil discovery provides the earliest known evidence of birds consuming leafy greens from flowering plants. Analysis of microscopic residues in a 120-million-year-old bird skeleton reveals that Jeholornis was an herbivore, not a predator.
Researchers have discovered fossils of a group of spurges in Argentina that date back 52 million years, suggesting these plants migrated from South America to Asia and beyond. The findings provide the first direct fossil evidence of spurges in Gondwanan South America, contradicting previous assumptions about their Asian origins.
A research team from Hokkaido University has found an exceptionally preserved fossil forest of Wataria parvipora, which was predominantly accompanied by Byttneriophyllum leaves. The discovery helps reconstruct a whole Eurasian plant from the late Miocene epoch and sheds light on the taxonomic identity of plants.
A study by University of Vienna researchers clarifies cycads' origin and geographic distribution, revealing a dynamic evolutionary history with key lineages becoming extinct or spreading. The findings provide valuable insights into biodiversity research and have implications for conservation efforts.
A new fossil discovery in California has rewritten the scientific understanding of cycad plants, revealing a more dynamic evolutionary history than previously thought. The 80-million-year-old pollen cone found in Silverado Canyon is distinct from modern cycads, with differences in morphology and anatomy.
Researchers from University of Colorado Boulder identified a fossil chili pepper that may rewrite the geography and evolutionary timeline of the tomato plant family. The team's findings suggest that chili peppers were present in North America at least 50 million years ago.
A team of scientists has discovered the oldest evidence of tylosis formation in a 360-million-year-old fossil from Ireland, providing insights into the evolution of plant defenses. The discovery sheds light on how early woody species protected their wood from pathogens and water loss.
Scientists uncovered fossils of palm leaves, hydrangea flowers and extinct plants from the same family as basswood, providing clues about climate conditions 40 million years ago. The discovery sheds light on the warmer temperate to subtropical climate that existed in the area during the late Eocene era.
Scientists have found the first fossil evidence of plants' leaves folding up at night, a behavior known as foliar nyctinasty. This discovery provides insight into the evolution and ecology of plants with this unique characteristic, which may offer ecological benefits to the parent plant.
A 250.8 million-year-old fossil find reveals complex marine ecosystems on Earth just one million years after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, contradicting long-held theories. The discovery provides insights into life's rapid recovery from extreme crises and necessitates a re-evaluation of early Triassic ocean conditions.
A fossil plant from California has shed light on the evolution of flowering plants, pushing back their origins by 80 million years. The discovery indicates that structurally complex rainforests may have existed as early as the Cretaceous period.
Researchers studied pollen data from North America's Neotoma Paleoecology Database to understand plant migration patterns and climate fidelity. Most plant species have exhibited long-term climate loyalty over the past 18,000 years, while some plants adapt locally in response to climate change.
A new study by University of California, Berkeley researchers suggests that iconic desert plants came preadapted to stresses of arid living. The rock daisy study found these pioneers developed adaptations on dry, exposed rock outcrops within older areas, making it easier for them to thrive in expanding deserts.
A fossilized flower, dated to 40 million years ago, was found encased in amber. The rare flower is believed to be from an ancient evergreen plant related to the Asian species Symplocos.
Scientists detected compounds in 250 million-year-old pollen grains that function like sunscreen, suggesting UV-B radiation played a key role in the end-Permian mass extinction event. The discovery supports the theory of palaeoclimate emergency triggered by volcanic eruptions and global warming.
A new method reveals that small vascular plants, not trees, played a greater role in reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. The study suggests that weathering, a process that involves the breakdown of minerals, is a more effective way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
Scientists have discovered that early forests contained much lower CO2 levels than previously thought, challenging long-held theories about the climate's history. The research, published in Nature Communications, found that these ancient forests had a minimal impact on atmospheric CO2 levels over time.
A joint research team reconstructed the mid-range paleoelevation sequences of the northeastern Tibet Plateau since the middle Miocene. The study reveals that the region underwent strong uplift about 11 to 7 Ma, exerting significant environmental effects. This uplift had a profound impact on climate and biodiversity in the region.
Researchers have found that plants maintain drought-resistant vascular arrangements by restricting tissue width, revealing a long-standing riddle in botany. The discovery provides insights into how plants evolved to colonize dry land and has potential applications in securing drought resistance in crop breeding programs.