Long before an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, Earth's forests may have been far more colorful and delicious than scientists once believed.
Over 74 million years ago, ancient flowering plants were already producing a rich variety of fruits and seeds.
He pointed out that the study proves larger fruit and seed sizes were already well established before the end of the Cretaceous.
Because these ancient fossils look so similar to modern fruits, Lee and his team believe Cretaceous animals were doing the exact same thing.
Additionally, ancient birds and dinosaurs, which were already eating seeds from conifers and other plant groups, probably added these new flowering plant fruits to their diets as they became available.
Long before an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, Earth's forests may have been far more colorful and delicious than scientists once believed. Over 74 million years ago, ancient flowering plants were already producing a rich variety of fruits and seeds. According to a fossil study published on June 25 in the journal ScienceNews, tall forest trees were scattering winged seeds and feeding local wildlife with fleshy, blueberry sized fruits millions of years before the Cretaceous Period came to an end. These findings completely change what researchers thought they knew about how flowering plants, known as angiosperms, first evolved.Challenging the old timelineFor a long time, the traditional theory was that ancient flowering plants relied mostly on the wind or physical elements to spread their seeds during the Cretaceous Period. Scientists believed it was only after the massive asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which killed off the nonavian dinosaurs and kicked off the Age of Mammals, that angiosperms really took over. The belief was that only in this new world did plants start developing complex fruits specifically designed to be eaten and carried around by animals. However, a fresh analysis of fossilized diaspores, the plant structures that contain seeds and fruits, proves that this shift started much earlier.Uncovering prehistoric fruit traysAs per the report by Paleoecologist Jaemin Lee from the University of California, Berkeley, along with his team, he studied 450 fossilized diaspores recovered from ancient volcanic ash in South central region of new Mexico between 1992 and 2016. The team identified nearly 80 different shapes among the fossils. While some had wings for wind travel, more than a third were fleshy like modern berries, with the largest specimens reaching the size of a small date. Lee noted that seeing clusters of these large fossils preserved together in the rocks brings to mind trays of pistachios or grapes.The major shift in plant historyBefore this discovery, records of large, fleshy fruits from that era were extremely rare, leading scientists to assume fruit diversity was low before the mass extinction. Paleobiologist Brian Atkinson from the University of Kansas, who was not involved in the research, called the finding very important. He pointed out that the study proves larger fruit and seed sizes were already well established before the end of the Cretaceous. This matches other evolutionary trends of the era. Paleobotanist Selena Smith from the University of Michigan noted that angiosperm leaves, growth habits, and overall sizes were evolving rapidly during this time, so it makes complete sense that their reproductive structures were becoming more specialized alongside them.Who were eating the fruit?Interestingly, today the birds, mammals, and reptiles eat fruits and spread seeds through their waste. Because these ancient fossils look so similar to modern fruits, Lee and his team believe Cretaceous animals were doing the exact same thing. Pterosaurs and early rodentlike mammals likely fed on these fruits. Additionally, ancient birds and dinosaurs, which were already eating seeds from conifers and other plant groups, probably added these new flowering plant fruits to their diets as they became available. While fossilized animal dung containing seeds from the Late Cretaceous has been found in earlier research, Lee admitted that matching prehistoric poop back to the specific animal that made it remains a tough challenge.Looking AheadThese fruit bearing plants eventually laid the foundation for the dense, flowering forests that cover the Earth today. They simply got their start much earlier, sharing the landscape with a very different group of creatures. The Atkinson study emphasized that the next step for researchers is to explore and sample other fossil sites from the Late Cretaceous. Doing so will help confirm whether these berry filled the forests were growing all over the world.
