Hidden Cradle of Early Plant Evolution Discovered in the Middle East (2 of 8) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Hidden Cradle of Early Plant Evolution Discovered in the Middle East (2 of 8)

Caption

A mummified seed-fern frond flaking off a piece of mudrock after being exposed to the light of day for the first time in some 255 million years; fossils like this from Permian sedimentary rocks exposed along the shore of the Dead Sea shed new light on the early origins of major seed-plant lineages. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 21 Dec., issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by P. Blomenkemper at University of Münster in Münster, Germany and colleagues was titled, "A hidden cradle of plant evolution in Permian tropical lowlands."

Credit

[Credit: Palaeobotany Research Group Münster]

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