Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.
Many perks!
<...more...>
|
08-30-2007, 12:45 AM
|
 |
Moderator
|
|
Join Date: May 2005
Zone: 7b
Location: Queens, NY, USA
Age: 29
Posts: 8,320
|
|
Fossil Orchid shows Orchids are ancient.
The following link is a short reporting on a fossil of a bee found within an orchid that is 80 million years old. This places the orchid before the extinction of the dinosaures 65 million years ago. WoW!! Read for yourselves.
Orchid fossil quells evolutionary quarrel - Yahoo! News
__________________
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, LOTR, Fellowship of the Ring
|
08-30-2007, 01:03 PM
|
 |
Super Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2007
Zone: 7b
Location: Long Island, NY
Age: 48
Posts: 7,454
|
|
Very cool article! 
Thanks for sharing Tindo  
__________________
Dorothy
"Nothing beats the orchid -- as an offering of love"
- paraphrasing Marlowe Hood from 'Orchid Fossil Quells Evolutionary Quarrel'
| Toto, I Have A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore! ...
|
|
|
08-30-2007, 06:07 PM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2007
Zone: 11
Location: Sao Paulo - Brazil
Posts: 3,565
|
|
Cool article! Thanks so much for sharingTindomul1of9. I understand that the bee was trapped some 15-20 million years ago. This is not much different of what I read some time ago (don't remember where I saved the article, but I have it!) about a possible orchid fossil found in Europe having 15 million years.
|
08-30-2007, 06:24 PM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 735
|
|
What I find most interesting is that orchids have survived many worldwide climate changes including the end of the Cretaceous period and the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. They are much more resilient and more evolved than previous believed over 80 million years!
|
08-30-2007, 07:01 PM
|
|
Super Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2007
Zone: 7b
Location: Long Island, NY
Age: 48
Posts: 7,454
|
|
See .. so it isn't that easy to kill them 
(  I wonder if that will generate orchid  stories?)
__________________
Dorothy
"Nothing beats the orchid -- as an offering of love"
- paraphrasing Marlowe Hood from 'Orchid Fossil Quells Evolutionary Quarrel'
| Toto, I Have A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore! ...
|
|
|
|
08-30-2007, 09:19 PM
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Zone: 10b
Location: South Florida
Posts: 2,467
|
|
80 million years ago, I wonder what it looked like! Apparently the bee liked it. Thanks Tin that is awesome 
__________________
"An orchid lover and their money are soon parted"
Dave
|
08-30-2007, 09:35 PM
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2007
Zone: 11
Location: Sao Paulo - Brazil
Posts: 3,565
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm
What I find most interesting is that orchids have survived many worldwide climate changes ...
|
Agree with you Phantasm. It is more than interesting. The secret is not to be endemic, but epidemic! Being everywhere is a good way of avoiding extinction! |
08-30-2007, 09:42 PM
|
 |
Ambassador
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Zone: 9a
Location: Spring Hill, FL
Posts: 15,882
|
|
Great article, Tin!
Thanks for sharing it with us  |
08-31-2007, 01:15 AM
|
|
Moderator
|
|
Join Date: May 2005
Zone: 7b
Location: Queens, NY, USA
Age: 29
Posts: 8,320
|
|
Glad you all liked it. I will be receiving a copy of the original article in Nature, so I will let you know more then.
I am under the impression that the orchid found in the amber is actually still an extant (living) species.
__________________
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, LOTR, Fellowship of the Ring
|
08-31-2007, 01:05 PM
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 735
|
|
One article I read mentioned that the pollen was from a plant representative of "the extant subtribe Goodyerinae (subfamily Orchidoideae)". Evidently this subtribe has not shown a lot of evolutionary changes over millions of years, especially compared to most plants in Orchidacea.
The members of Goodyerianae are mentioned here:
Subtribe : GOODYERINAE | Orchids Online
Perhaps the pollen from 15-20 million years ago still lives on in today's plants, but it would be pretty difficult to nail it down. The bee itself is extinct..... |
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
| Thread Tools |
|
|
| Display Modes |
Rate This Thread |
 Linear Mode
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:27 AM.
|
