First rainforests arose when plants solved plumbing problem

A team of scientists, including several from the Smithsonian Institution, discovered that leaves of flowering plants in the world's first rainforests had more veins per unit area than leaves ever had before. They suggest ...

Early sunflower family fossil found in South America

(PhysOrg.com) -- A beautifully preserved fossil identified as being of an early relative of the Asteraceae, or aster, family nearly 50 million years old suggests the plant family, which has now colonized much of the planet, ...

The evolution of orchids

(PhysOrg.com) -- Charles Darwin and many other scientists have long been puzzled by the evolution of orchids, the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants on Earth. Now genetic sequencing is giving scientists insights ...

Australian fossil reveals new plant species

Antoine Champreux, a Ph.D. student in the Global Ecology Lab at Flinders University, has cataloged the discovery of the new fern-like plant species as part of an international effort to examine the Australian fossil in greater ...

New mathematical model reveals how major groups arise in evolution

Researchers at Uppsala University and the University of Leeds presents a new mathematical model of patterns of diversity in the fossil record, which offers a solution to Darwin's "abominable mystery" and strengthens our understanding ...

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