Fossil data support a pre-Cretaceous origin of flowering plants

Silvestro, DanieleGothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (author)

Flowering plants (angiosperms) are the most diverse of all land plants, becoming abundant in the Cretaceous and achieving dominance in the Cenozoic. However, the exact timing of their origin remains a controversial topic, with molecular clocks generally placing their origin much further back in time than the oldest unequivocal fossils. To resolve this discrepancy, we developed a Bayesian method to estimate the ages of angiosperm families on the basis of the fossil record (a newly compiled dataset of similar to 15,000 occurrences in 198 families) and their living diversity. Our results indicate that several families originated in the Jurassic, strongly rejecting a Cretaceous origin for the group. We report a marked increase in lineage accumulation from 125 to 72 million years ago, supporting Darwin's hypothesis of a rapid Cretaceous angiosperm diversification. Our results demonstrate that a pre-Cretaceous origin of angiosperms is supported not only by molecular clock approaches but also by analyses of the fossil record that explicitly correct for incomplete sampling.

Bacon, Christine D.Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences(Swepub:gu)xbacoc (author)
Ding, W. N. (author)
Zhang, Q. Y. (author)
Donoghue, P. C. J. (author)
Antonelli, Alexandre,1978Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences(Swepub:gu)xantal (author)
Xing, Y. W. (author)
Göteborgs universitetInstitutionen för biologi och miljövetenskap (creator_code:org_t)

In:Nature Ecology & Evolution: Springer Science and Business Media LLC5, s. 449-4572397-334X

By the author/editor: Silvestro, Danie ...; Bacon, Christine ...; Ding, W. N.; Zhang, Q. Y.; Donoghue, P. C. ...; Antonelli, Alexa ...; show more...; Xing, Y. W.; show less...

About the subject

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Biological Scien ...; and Evolutionary Bio ...

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