Dinosaur-era plant found alive in North America for first time
Imagine you're at work and suddenly, a cheetah pokes its head through your window.
Plants & Animals
Jul 31, 2017
1
3364
American Journal of Botany
Mice threaten a rare native plant by eating its seeds, but their spoilation is human-enabled
What bothers a plant? Why are some plants rare while others are common? Are the rare plants simply adapted to rare habitat or are they losing the competition for habitat? Are their populations small but stable, or are they ...
Ecology
Mar 22, 2017
0
14
Research suggests climate change affecting plants above ground more than below
It's a long way between central Pennsylvania and Greenland—at least 2,000 miles—but Laura Radville came to Penn State so she could study climate change in the "Iceberg capital of the world."
Environment
Dec 23, 2016
0
55
What can plants reveal about gene flow? That it's an important evolutionary force
A plant breeder discovers his experimental crops have been "contaminated" with genes from a neighboring field. New nasty weeds sometimes evolve directly from natural crosses between domesticated species and their wild relatives. ...
Biotechnology
May 28, 2014
0
0
Which came first, bi- or tricellular pollen? New research updates a classic debate
With the bursting of spring, pollen is in the air. Most of the pollen that is likely tickling your nose and making your eyes water is being dispersed in a sexually immature state consisting of only two cells (a body cell ...
Plants & Animals
May 2, 2014
0
0
Graduate student brings extinct plants to life
Jeff Benca is an admitted über-geek when it comes to prehistoric plants, so it was no surprise that, when he submitted a paper describing a new species of long-extinct lycopod for publication, he ditched the standard line ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 11, 2014
8
0
Serpentine ecosystems shed light on the nature of plant adaptation and speciation
Plants that live in unusual soils, such as those that are extremely low in essential nutrients, provide insight into the mechanisms of adaptation, natural selection, and endemism. A seminal paper by Arthur Kruckeberg from ...
Biotechnology
Mar 10, 2014
0
0
From one cell to many: How did multicellularity evolve?
In the beginning there were single cells. Today, many millions of years later, most plants, animals, fungi, and algae are composed of multiple cells that work collaboratively as a single being. Despite the various ways these ...
Evolution
Jan 24, 2014
3
0
Iconic Australasian trees found as fossils in South America
Today in Australia they call it Kauri, in Asia they call it Dammar, and in South America it does not exist at all unless planted there; but 52 million years ago the giant coniferous evergreen tree known to botanists as Agathis ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 9, 2014
0
1
Evolution, Civil War history entwine in plant fossil with a tragic past
A fossil leaf fragment collected decades ago on a Virginia canal bank has been identified as one of North America's oldest flowering plants, a 115- to 125-million-year-old species new to science. The fossil find, an ancient ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 2, 2013
0
0
