"It turns out that it is really an ancient Chinese fruit. It seems that I was right." Su Jing said with a smile. He had checked the information before, but he was not sure.
Seeing Su Jing's heartless look, Ye Bo and Zhou Xixian couldn't help but want to strangle him to death. Do you know how shocking the plant you took out is? Of course, they were also excited at the same time. Because this ancient Chinese fruit is so valuable.
Chinese ancient fruit, "the world's earliest flower" that bloomed in the western Liaoning region of China 145 million years ago, is a legend in the world of paleontology and archeology.
The Chinese ancient fruit fossil was discovered by Sun Ge, Ji Qiang and others in the Lingyuan area of western Liaoning in 2000. Scientists have established this now-extinct ancient angiosperm group as a new family of early angiosperms - "Archaecarpaceae". Research shows that the Chinese ancient fruit is likely to be the ancestor of all flowers, fruits and grains in the world today.
This major discovery is a new breakthrough in the study of the origin and early evolution of global angiosperms. The American "Science" magazine published on May 7, 2002, featured as a cover article the papers of the leading scientists of this achievement, Professor Sun Ge of Jilin University and Researcher Ji Qiang of the China Institute of Geology.
The morphological characteristics of angiosperms such as Ancient Chinese Fruit are even more surprising than those of its time. According to traditional botanical theory, angiosperms evolved from a type of shrub similar to the living magnolia. However, Ancient Chinese Fruit The fruit is a small, delicate aquatic plant, more like an herb.
In August 2003, another international research team published another possible explanation for the Chinese ancient fruit in the journal "New Trends in Botany". They believed that the Chinese ancient fruit was very likely to grow completely immersed in water. In addition, using different taxonomic features to analyze the genealogy obtained, the position of Sinensis in the genealogy has become ambiguous. It is not as based on the flowering plant genealogy as the first group of research teams believed. Therefore, they can't help but ask: "Chinese Is Archaea the ancestor of flowering plants, or just a specialized early flowering plant?"
According to Science and Technology Daily, the American "Discovery" magazine introduced the result under the title "The Earliest Floral Smell" and said that Darwin was responsible for the sudden emergence of angiosperms, also known as flowering plants, in the middle and late Cretaceous period (about 100 million years ago to 6500 years ago). Thousands of years ago) appeared in large numbers, but no clues about their ancestral groups and early evolution could be found, so they were puzzled, which was called a "nasty mystery".
Now, instead of a fossil, there is such a living ancient Chinese fruit in front of us. Everything is completely different, and the "annoying mystery" is likely to be solved.
The origin of human beings and the origin of species have always been topics we are studying, because it is related to the evolution of humans and species, and to the future of mankind.
"It's great. With this living ancient Chinese fruit, we no longer have to guess based on fossils. Maybe many mysteries will be solved." Ye Bo said excitedly.
"This should also be of great help to archeology." Zhou Xixian said.
"What do you mean? This is obviously paleontology. I should be allowed to bring back the paleontology graduate students. You should stop messing around." Ye Bo said.
"This is related to the ancient environment 100 million years ago. Archeology, of course, has a lot to do with me." Zhou Xixian glared.
Accidentally, the two quarreled again, leaving Su Jing and several assistants helpless. But I also know that they bicker, but usually they won't cause any trouble. In fact, several assistants were also very excited. What a magical thing it was to be able to witness a creature that was more than 100 million years old? When this news spreads, it will definitely shock the whole country and the world, because this is a worldwide breakthrough and a miracle.
In the end, Su Jing couldn't stand seeing them fighting, so she took out another ancient Chinese fruit, one for each person, and they stopped arguing.
The last time they fought for spider fossils, Su Jing sold them at auction, but this time it was given to them for free for research. Because of the small amount of money, Su Jing no longer cares about it. The price is too high and they can't buy it. rise. What he cares more about is to be able to research something that will bring a lot of good sensation and impact to the earth and gain recycling.
"Ah Jing, where did you get so many extinct animals and this ancient Chinese fruit? Logically speaking, it cannot still be alive." Ye Bo couldn't help but ask.
"Haha, nothing is impossible. The world is huge and full of wonders. The facts are in front of you. Don't you believe it? In addition to this one, there are several other plants. Do you want to take a look?" Su Jing said, Deliberately change the topic.
"More?" Ye Bo and Zhou Xixian both stared.
"Yes." Su Jing nodded.
"Of course you want to see it, take it out quickly." The second elder and several assistants were excited.
Su Jing went into the house again, and this time brought out a few plants at once, all of which were small plants planted in flower pots. Their shapes are very special.
"Hey, isn't this..." A young man pointed at one of the plants, seeming to think of something, but he couldn't name it.
"Sun Moon Lake mutton ears and garlic!" Another young man shouted softly.
"Huh?" Ye Bo looked surprised, stared at it for a moment, nodded and said, "Xiao Wu, you read that right, this is indeed Sun Moon Lake Lamb's Ear Garlic."
They saw that the plant they called Sun Moon Lake Lamb's Ear Garlic had oval pseudobulbs and linear or linear-lanceolate leaves, 16-30 cm long and only 1-1.5 cm wide. The racemes are terminal, with linear upper sepals and petals, about nine millimeters long, and an ovoid-elliptical lip.
"What is Sun Moon Lake Lamb's Ear Garlic?" Zhou Xixian asked doubtfully.
"Hey, you don't know this." Ye Bo smiled and explained, "This is a species endemic to Taiwan. It is only distributed on Lalu Island in the Sun Moon Lake area of Nantou, with an altitude of about 750m. After the construction of Mingtan Reservoir Its habitat has been severely damaged, and there has been no subsequent discovery record for more than 70 years, so it is likely to be completely extinct."
"That is to say, it is another extinct species. Thank you for saying it so easily, as if it is rare and normal." Zhou Xixian said.
Ye Bo and the young man he just recognized were both stunned. Yes, this is an extinct species. Although it has only been extinct for seventy years, it is still an extinct species. How rare it is. But he is so calm, as if there is nothing wrong with him. It's so surprising. It seems that I have seen too many extinct species today and I have become a little numb. I can only blame Su Jing.
They didn't think too much and looked carefully at several other plants. At first glance, they couldn't recognize any of them.