TRIBUNMANADO.CO.ID – A 130 million year old flower bud fossil found in China may solve Charles Darwin’s ‘hate puzzle’ who wondered when and how the first flowering plants evolved.
The fossils include leafy twigs, physically attached fruit, and flower buds, indicating that angiosperms existed in the Jurassic period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago).
Angiosperms are plants that have flowers and produce seeds.
Researchers have found the earliest examples of flower buds.
The find comes from an analysis of a fossil flower which is believed to be the oldest flower bud ever found.
The flower buds are part of a 164 million-year-old fossil plant in China which was later named Florigerminis jurassica.
The discovery of the oldest flower buds also provides insight into the emergence of flowering plants in the Jurassic period, which is between 145 million and 201 years ago.
Citing Live Science, Thursday (20/1/2022) fossils of F. jurrasica were found in the Inner Mongolia region which is part of China.
The oldest flower bud fossil has a length of 4.2 cm and a width of 2 cm. The fossil consists of a stem, leafy branches, round fruit, and small flower buds measuring about 3 mm squared.
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