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Dicotyledonous angiosperm flower from the Upper Cretaceous of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Abstract

RECENT palaeobotanical studies on Cretaceous angiosperms, including those concerning the antiquity of the conduplicate carpel1 and the first stages of the evolution of angiosperm pollen and leaf morphology2 have contributed significantly to our knowledge of the group. However, the paucity of fossil flowers in the record3 means that existing concepts of the nature of the early flowers of the angiosperms must be based on the comparative morphology of living forms. The discovery of the three-dimensionally preserved flower herein described, and its associated remains, is thus of considerable interest.

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References

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TIFFNEY, B. Dicotyledonous angiosperm flower from the Upper Cretaceous of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Nature 265, 136–137 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/265136a0

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