Science

Ancient climate shifts may explain why today's flowering plants are so diverse

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 14/10/2026, 12:24:25 UTC.

Briefings

A study published in Nature Plants by Australian and Austrian researchers analyzed fossilized pollen and spores to identify two warmest periods in the past 140 million years. These periods coincided with mass extinctions and triggered explosive diversification in land plants, including flowering plants. The findings suggest these ancient climate shifts are key to understanding modern plant diversity patterns.

Key points

• Two warmest time periods in the past 140 million years coincided with mass extinctions and drove explosive plant diversity.
• The study analyzed fossilized pollen and spores to identify these specific warm periods as central to plant evolution.

Context and limitations

Evidence is limited to fossilized pollen and spores from the mid-Cretaceous and early Cenozoic periods, with no data on other land plant groups or specific species.

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