Skip to main content
Log in

PLANT EVOLUTION

Reconfiguring Darwin’s abominable mystery

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Plants

View current issue Submit your manuscript

New evidence that a mid-Cretaceous fossil represents a modern angiosperm genus partly reinstates Darwin’s view of the fossil record.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Early angiosperm fossils from the mid-Cretaceous Dakota Formation.

References

  1. Shi, C. et al. Nat. Plants 8, 125–135 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Darwin, C. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, 27, 1879 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019).

  3. Ball, J. Proc Royal Geographic. Soc. Month. Record. Geograph. 1, 564–589 (1879).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lesquereux, L. Contributions to the Fossil Flora of the Western Territories, Part I. The Cretaceous Flora. (U.S. Geological Survey, 1874).

  5. Heer, O. Flora Fossilis Arctica III (P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1874).

  6. Ward, L. F. Science 1, 337–346 (1895).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Seward, A. C. New Phytol. 2, 243 (1903).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Maryland Geological Survey. Lower Cretaceous 214–312 (Johns Hopkins Press, 1911).

  9. Harris, T. M. New Phytol. 32, 97–114 (1933).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hughes, N. F. & Couper, R. A. Nature 181, 1482–1483 (1958).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Harris, T. M. Adv. Sci. 17, 207–213 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dilcher, D. L. Bot. Rev. 40, 1–157 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hughes, N. F. Taxon 12, 336–337 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hughes, N. F. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 71, 593–598 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hickey, L. J. & Doyle, J. A. Bot. Rev. 43, 3–104 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R. & Pedersen, K. R. Early Flowers and Angiosperm Evolution (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).

  17. Stockey, R. A., Graham, S. W. & Crane, P. R. Am. J. Bot. 96, 3–4 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard J. A. Buggs.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Buggs, R.J.A. Reconfiguring Darwin’s abominable mystery. Nat. Plants 8, 194–195 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01117-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01117-x

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Navigation