A peculiar bunch of fossil was retrieved from theGreen River Formationin Utah back in 1969 – the 47 - million - year - previous leafage of an “ alien plant ” that was thought to be an strange extremity of the ginseng syndicate . Now , scientists have revisited the specimen with a fresh fossil to boot , revealing that it is n’t nin-sin and is actually even stranger than first realized .
The new - to - science coinage was namedOthniophyton elongatumin 1969 , free-base on some fossilized leaves . We keep saying “ exotic plant ” because that ’s what its name translates to ( othnio = foreign , phytum = works ) .
A new fossil
One soul who is very conversant with the 1969 fossils is Steven Manchester , curator of paleobotany at the Florida Museum of Natural History . Manchester did a bit ofpalaeobotanydetective work when he encountered an unidentified plant fossil that had also follow from the Green River Formation , and as part of a team demonstrated that it was , in fact , the same plant specie . It was a braggy find because the leave , fruits , and flowers on that specimen looked nothing like ginseng , mean the initial recognition of the 1969 fossils was likely wrong .
“ This fossil is rare in having the twig with committed fruits and leaves , ” tell Manchester in astatement . “ Usually those are found one by one . ”
The detective workplace continued as they went in lookup of a survive species that could stand up to the peculiar physical features of the old and new dodo . That hunting proved fruitless , so they looked to extinct plant species and still came up with nothing .
The pitfalls of palaeobotany
The inability to fitOthniophytoninto a have sex family or genus is not a failure , however , but instead a great demonstration of what you come in up against in palaeobotany . As Manchester put it , when faced with circumscribed clay of ancient species , “ you ca n’t always shoehorn these thing , ” but then the squad began exploring a unexampled way to canvass the fossil ’ minute detail .
A new microscopy workstation at the Florida Museum , which had been established by the curator of hokey intelligence , was used to take an even close look at the fossils . The combining of the digital microscope ’s powerful lens and a computer - enhance shadow effect reveal micro - feeling that had been allow for behind by smallseeds .
“ Normally we do n’t expect to see that preserve in these types of fossils , but maybe we ’ve been overlooking it because our equipment did n’t peck up that sort of topographical relief , ” Manchester say .
A trait never seen in modern plants
Looking at the plant life in this direction revealed an unusual feature film that had n’t been recognise before : it still had stamen while bearing fruits . That ’s a trait that ’s never been see in any modern plant , where the norm is for the stamen to fall away with the petal once the blossom is fecundate .
Even with their superfluous information , the squad still could n’t find a pure match forOthniophyton . It has some feature that could point to the order Caryophyllales , but its want of a decipherable situation with regard to extant flora families in all likelihood indicates that the lineage went nonextant , and perhaps so too did its skinny relatives .
The palaeobotanical puzzle carry on , as there was a book print in 1969 that check many other similarly mysterious specimens , and we look forrad to incur out what the Green River Formation turfs up next .
The study is bring out in the journalAnnals of Botany .
