An ancient fossilized berry was found by geoscientists who were working in South America. This berry belongs to a family that includes potatoes, petunias, and tomatoes. This discovery is a special one because fossilized plants are rarely found. The fossilization process is much more common for animals than for plants.
- Geoscientists found rare fossilized berry
- The discovery was made in Patagonia
- The berry is part of the Nightshade family
- This family includes tomatoes, petunia, and potatoes
- This discovery is rare due to the fact that fossilized plants are hard to find
The fossilized berry that was recently found is part of the Nightshade family. This is a highly diversified and important family of flowering plants. The berry was found in Patagonia and the ones who found it classified it as a Physalis. This is related to tomatillos. This is another interesting and rare thing because tomatillos have a poor fossil record.
Because there aren’t many fossilized berries from this family this discovery can help researchers know more about it. This way they can learn about the way these fruits evolved over time. The researchers mentioned that this might even change everything that was known about the Nightshade family.
The reason for which this type of fossilized berry is so hard to find is that it is extremely fragile. This discovery showed that this family of plants might have a longer history than it was believed. The researchers mentioned that these plants might have been older than 52 million years.
In order to know just how old the fossilized berry really is researchers dated the rocks where the fossil is found. This is because it is easier to date the rocks instead of the fossil itself. The researchers mentioned that it is extremely hard to date a fossil and that is why they date the rocks.
Another interesting thing is that the fossilized berry, although it is very old, has the same details and husk as modern tomatillos. This means that these plants did not suffer many changes on their evolution process. The researchers mentioned that they will continue to search the place in order to find more fossilized plants.
What is your opinion about this discovery? Did you know that fossilized plants are hard to find?
Image source: Wikipedia
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