ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
    • Animals
    • Climate
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • FutureNEW
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
HomeScienceBiology

World’s oldest flower found: it’s 125 million years old, and it raises some hard questions

Mihai Andrei byMihai Andrei
August 19, 2015
inBiology, Geology, News, Science
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
A large intact specimen of the fossil, Montsechia. Usually only small fragmentary pieces of the fossil are found. Credit: David Dilcher

We tend to think of flowering plants and ubiquitous, but in truth, they’ve “only” been around for about 125 million years – which geologically speaking… is still a lot, it’s just not forever. Geologists may have just found the oldest flower.

Looking through some previously discovered fossils, scientists were thrilled to find a spectacular specimen: a fossil of a flowering plant resembling that of the common pond weed Ceratophyllum, more commonly known as hornwort. The flowers aren’t colored, but instead, featured fine fibers. The fossil was found 100 years ago in limestone deposits from the Iberian Range in central Spain and in the Montsec Range of the Pyrenees, near the country’s border with France. However, it wasn’t properly analyzed until recently.

Interestingly enough, Montsechia vidalii, once grew abundantly in freshwater lakes, not on land.

ADVERTISEMENT

“This discovery raises significant questions about the early evolutionary history of flowering plants, as well as the role of these plants in the evolution of other plant and animal life,” said David Dilcher, paleobotanist at Indiana University.

Illustrations based on fossilized remains show long- and short-leaved forms of the plant and a single seed. Credit: Oscar Sanisidro

Previously, Archaefructus sinensis, an aquatic plant found in China, was previously proposed as one of the earliest flowers. It’s interesting to note that now, the two oldest known flowering plants were waterborne – although the ‘first flower’ is rather a misnomer.

“A ‘first flower’ is technically a myth, like the ‘first human,’” said Dilcher. “But based on this new analysis, we know now that Montsechia is contemporaneous, if not more ancient, than Archaefructus,” he said.

Although it does’t contain any obvious flower parts, the plant is classified as a flower due to the fact that the fruit contains a single seed – the defining characteristic of an angiosperm, a flowering plant.

“Montsechia possesses no obvious ‘flower parts,’ such as petals or nectar-producing structures for attracting insects, and lives out its entire life cycle under water,” Dilcher said. “The fruit contains a single seed” – the defining characteristic of an angiosperm – “which is borne upside down,” he said.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Tags: archaefructusflowermontsechiaplant
ShareTweetShare

How much money are you losing by not going solar? Use our savings calculator for rooftop solar.

Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

ADVERTISEMENT

EDITOR'S PICKS

Leaf blowers are not only annoying but also bad for you (and the environment)
Environment

Leaf blowers are not only annoying but also bad for you (and the environment)

by Alexandru Micu
November 15, 2019 - Updated on November 17, 2019

It comes down to the inefficient engines they use.

Read more
What are greenhouse gases and why we need to worry about them? A simple explainer

What are greenhouse gases and why we need to worry about them? A simple explainer

November 15, 2019
The difference between programming and coding with Leslie Lamport

The difference between programming and coding with Leslie Lamport

November 15, 2019
Why ketamine is so good against depression

Why ketamine is so good against depression

November 8, 2019
pixabay-brain-fog

What is brain fog: the mental fatigue that ruins your mood

October 25, 2019
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
    • Animals
    • Climate
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Do you love science?

Join 50,000+ subscribers and get our FREE e-book on pseudoscience. 
SUBSCRIBE
close-link