Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

The Use of the Puzzle Box as a Means of Assessing the Efficacy of Environmental Enrichment
Published on: December 29, 2014
Origin of angiosperms and the puzzle of the Jurassic gap
Hong-Tao Li1, Ting-Shuang Yi1, Lian-Ming Gao2
1Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
Abstract:
Angiosperms are by far the most species-rich clade of land plants, but their origin and early evolutionary history remain poorly understood. We reconstructed angiosperm phylogeny based on 80 genes from 2,881 plastid genomes representing 85% of extant families and all orders. With a well-resolved plastid tree and 62 fossil calibrations, we dated the origin of the crown angiosperms to the Upper Triassic, with major angiosperm radiations occurring in the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. This estimated crown age is substantially earlier than that of unequivocal angiosperm fossils, and the difference is here termed the 'Jurassic angiosperm gap'. Our time-calibrated plastid phylogenomic tree provides a highly relevant framework for future comparative studies of flowering plant evolution.
Related Concept Videos
The Angiosperm Life Cycle
Gap Junctions
Gap Junctions
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Phloem and Sugar Transport
Light Acquisition

