Myth or reality: Were the plants we have on Earth today also present in the age of dinosaurs?

The comparison between a dinosaur and a simple flower is living (or extinct) proof that looks can be deceiving – very much so. Let’s test: Would you bet a plant is tougher than Tyrannosaurus Rex?

If you guessed yes, congratulations! On the other hand, if you guessed nothing and are questioning the accuracy of this answer, don’t worry, we will explain.

In today’s Myth or Fact episode, we decided to bring you more answers to that question you keep asking yourself a few hours after telling yourself you’re going to bed early at 3am. After all, did you already have a small plant in your backyard back when dinosaurs dominated the Earth?

Did plants exist in the age of dinosaurs?

Short answer is yes Some of the plants found on Earth today were also present during the age of dinosaurs.A period of approximately 180 million years that began in the Late Triassic and ended at the end of the Cretaceous, approximately 65 million years ago.

In other words, unlike the dinosaurs, which became massively extinct as a result of a meteor impact, flowers survived the event almost unscathed and evolved to become the dominant plant species today. The study published by the scientific journal Biology Letters showed this.

For the study, scientists used a study method called birth-death to get an estimate of how many angiosperm species have gone extinct throughout history. In total, mutations in the DNA sequences of more than 70,000 flowering plant species were examined.

The result was impressive: Most of the angiosperm families already existed in the age of dinosaurs and managed to survive after the meteor impact. So how was this possible?

survivors

According to the research, plants had to adapt to the hostile environment and scarce light after the asteroid impact. To survive, they have developed “strategies” to spread their seeds and optimize light absorption even in low light.

The ancestors of mint, magnolia and orchids were already present during the Triassic period.

“After most of the species on Earth became extinct in the K-Pg event [fim do período Cretáceo e o início do Paleógeno], angiosperms took advantage of this opportunity, much like mammals took over after the dinosaurs”, commented the study’s author, Jamie Thompson. “And now almost all life on Earth is ecologically dependent on flowering plants.”

This is how the ancestral species of species we know today, such as orchids, magnolias and mints, survived and managed to continue the family.