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Representative Image / Bengali News18.
The research, which was published in Current Biology, aims to study how the reproduction process in plants evolved over the years.
- Trends Desk
- Last update: May 5, 2020 7:43 PM IST
Evolution is a gradual process that continues for years. Little ideas about ancient fossils give us important information about the process of plant evolution, which remains largely a mystery.
Scientists have studied millions of years old fossils stored in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. One of these fossils belonged to a species of plant that has nothing in common with the species found today.
The research, which was published in Current Biology, aims to study how the reproduction process in plants evolved over the years.
To carry out the research, the team studied about 30 small rock fragments at the museum, originally excavated in the Campbellton Formation of New Brunswick in Canada. More than 80 reproductive structures were identified and studied by these scientists.
While most of these structures contained spores, an important part of the reproduction process in plants, the difference in these spores excited the team to dig further. Andrew Leslie, lead author, explained: “It is rare to have so many sporangia with well-preserved spores that can be measured.”
He said that the study of the reproduction of land plants is one of greater division of labor and specialization and complexity. While it may be difficult, someone has to start the process.
Interestingly, these fossils give an idea of the period when the process of evolution began in plants. The fossilized species belongs to the early Devonian geological period, which covers between 419.2 million and 358.9 million years.
