Flowers bloomed when the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth - 100-MILLION years earlier than previously thought

Flowering plants became dominant 90 million years ago but until now scientists were unsure when plants, known as angiosperms, originated University of Zrich researchers found ancient pollen grains with features that are usually seen in flowering plants in 245-million-year-old fossils Their findings suggest the origin of flowering plants is rooted much deeper than originally thought

By Sarah Griffiths

Newly discovered fossils hint that flowers could have bloomed at a time when the first dinosaurs walked the Earth, Swiss scientists have said. The discovery dates seed-producing and flowering plants - known as angiosperms - to around 100 million years earlier than palaeontologists previously thought. Angiosperms became the dominant plants some 90 million years ago, when dinosaurs were still very much alive, but scientists were not sure exactly when the plants originated.

Scientists have unearthed 245-million-year-old pollen grains (examples shown here), with tiny features typically that are seen in flowering plants, from samples taken in Switzerland

WHAT ARE ANGIOSPERMS?

Flowering plants called angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants. Their characteristics include flowers, endosperm within the seeds, and the production of fruits that contain the seeds. Etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure - they are fruiting plants, although more commonly referred to as flowering plants. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 120 million years ago, but replaced older conifers as the dominant trees only around 60 to 100-million-years-ago.

Today's flowering plants evolved from relative of seed-producing plants that did not flower, including conifers and cycads.

Peter Hochuli, a paleobotanist at the University of Zrich's Paleontological Institute and Museum, told LiveScience that flowering plants were the final group of plants to evolve in Earth's history.

'They are an extremely successful group on which all terrestrial ecosystems today depend, including the existence of humanity,' he said. Scientists have discovered ancient pollen grains with features that are usually seen in flowering plants. The 245-million-year-old fossils were found in two samples taken from northern Switzerland and are approximately the same age as the earliest known dinosaur in the Middle Triassic period.

Newly discovered fossils hint that flowers could have bloomed at a time when the first dinosaurs, such as Nyasasaurus parringtoni (illustrated) walked the Earth, Swiss scientists said

Pollen grains are robust and plentiful, which makes then easier to spot in fossil records than fragile leaves and flowers. An unrelated fossil of buttercups (left) and early aquatic angiosperm (right) is pictured

Dr Hochuli said: 'Our findings suggest that the origin of flowering plants is rooted much deeper than originally thought.' Pollen grains are robust and plentiful, which makes then easier to spot in the fossil record than fragile leaves and flowers, he said. The researchers analysed the structure of these grains to publish their study in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science and believe they were pollinated by beetles, as bees did not evolve until around 100 million years later. The fossils yielded six different kinds of pollen, hinting that ancient flowers were diverse, while scientists said they have seen similar grains in Switzerland and the Barents Sea, located north of Scandinavia.

In the Middle Triassic, both the regions were located in the subtropics but modern Switzerland was much drier than its more northern counterpart, suggesting the plants adapted to different environments. While the fossil record of angiosperms dates back 140 million years, even Charles Darwin was unsure when they first originated - calling it an 'abominable mystery'. Now, the plot thickens as the fossils demonstrate that the flowering plants were in existence 100 million years sooner than imagined, although the longer period of time might explain how they came to diversity and spread in the age of the dinosaurs. However, the fossils do not shed any more light on the ancestors of angiosperms, which have baffled scientists who are unsure how they came to exist. Dr Hochuli said no direct ancestors of angiosperms have been identified. 'Some groups of plants are suspected to be closely related. But the evidence is weak and most of these groups are thought to be too specialised to be at the base of the flowering plants,' he said.
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