Abstract
FLOWERING plants or angiosperms have dominated the Earth's flora since at least the late Cretaceous1 and were already highly diversified by Barremian times, about 120 million years (Myr) ago. However, because of the paucity of fossilized angiosperm reproductive structures from lower Cretaceous sediments2,3and the absence of generally recognized angiosperm fossils from pre-Cretaceous strata4,5, their origins and early evolution remain obscure. Similarly, attempts to understand pre-Cretaceous angiosperm evolution4–11 have been impaired by difficulties in defining and interpreting angiospermous characters in fossil specimens8,12. We report here molecular evidence suggesting that angiosperm ancestors underwent diversification more than 300 Myr ago.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lidgard, S. & Crane, P. R. Nature 331, 344–346 (1988).
Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R. & Pedersen, K. R. Nature 320, 163–164 (1986).
Nishida, H. Nature 318, 58–59 (1985).
Axelrod, D. I. Evolution 6, 29–60 (1952).
Crane, P. R. A. Mo. bot. Gdn 72, 716–793 (1985).
Krassilov, V. A. A. Mo. bot. Gdn 71, 577–592 (1984).
Krassilov, V. A. Bot. Rev. 43, 143–176 (1977).
Friis, E. M., Chaloner, W. G. & Crane, P. R. in The Origins of Angiosperms and their Biological Consequences (eds Friis, E. M., Chaloner, W. G. & Crane, P. R.) 1–15 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987).
Doyle, J. A. & Donoghue, M. J. Bot. Rev. 52, 321–431 (1986).
Stebbins, G. L. Flowering plants: Evolution Above the Species level (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1974).
Hughes, G. L. A. Mo. bot. Gdn 71, 593–598 (1984).
Thomas B. A. & Spicer, R. A. Evolution and Paleobiology of Land Plants (Croom Helm, London, 1987).
Tso, J. Y. et al. Nucleic Acids. Res. 13, 2485–2502 (1985).
Yarbrough, P. O. et al. Biochim. biophys. Acta 908, 21–33 (1987).
Holland, J. P. & Holland M. J. J. biol. Chem. 255, 2596–2605 (1979).
Brinkmann, H. et al. J. molec. Evol. 26, 320–328 (1987).
Martin, W. F. & Cerff, R. Eur. J. Biochem. 159, 323–331 (1986).
Shin, M. C., Lazar, G. & Goodmann, H. M. Cell 47, 73–80 (1986).
Li, W.-H., Wu, C.-I. & Luo, C.-C. Molec. Biol. Evol. 2, 150–174 (1985).
Prager, E. M. & Wilson, A. C. J. Molec. Evol. 27, 326–335 (1988).
Niesbach-Klösgen, U. et al. J. molec. Evol. 26, 213–225 (1987).
Wolfe, K. H., Li, W.-H. & Sharp, P. M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 9054–9058 (1987).
Ritland, K. & Clegg, M. T. Am. Nat. 130, S74–S100 (1987).
Humphries, C. Nature 333, 300–301 (1988).
Axelrod, D. I. Bot. Rev. 36, 227–319 (1970).
Takhtajan, A. L. Bot. Rev. 46, 225–359 (1980).
Meeuse, A. D. J. All About Angiosperms (Eburon, Delft, 1987).
Wilson, A. C., Carlson, S. S. & White, T. J. A. Rev. Biochem. 46, 573–639 (1977).
Nei, M. Molecular Evolutionary Genetics (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1987).
Li, W. H. & Tanimura, M. Nature 326, 93–96 (1987).
Schopf, J. W. Scient. Am. 239, 84–102 (1978).
van den Eynde, H. et al. J. molec. Evol. 27, 126–132 (1988).
Maxam, A. M. & Gilbert, W. Meth. in Enzym. 65, 499–560 (1980).
Cronquist, A. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants (Columbia University Press, New York, 1981).
Felsenstein, J. Evolution 39, 783–791 (1985).
Li, W.-H. Proc. natn. Acad Sci. U.S.A. 78, 1085–1089 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martin, W., Gierl , A. & Saedler, H. Molecular evidence for pre-Cretaceous angiosperm origins. Nature 339, 46–48 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339046a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339046a0
This article is cited by
-
Palynomorph assemblages and paleoclimate records from the Zhuanchengzi Bed of the Yixian Formation, western Liaoning Province, China
Science China Earth Sciences (2015)
-
Phylogenetic informativeness reconciles ray-finned fish molecular divergence times
BMC Evolutionary Biology (2014)
-
A late origin of the extant eukaryotic diversity: divergence time estimates using rare genomic changes
Biology Direct (2011)
-
Proteomics Analysis of Embryo and Endosperm from Mature Common Buckwheat Seeds
Journal of Plant Biology (2011)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
