Flowers have been blooming on Earth for 123 million years, pollen grains reveal

They are very tiny, but they are a key source of information when it comes to Earth's evolutionary history: pollen grains are usually no larger than 20 micrometers, or 0.02 millimeters. Using these tiny particles, a research team at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and the University of Bonn has managed to pinpoint the earliest emergence of flowering plants, so-called angiosperms, much more precisely.

May 20, 2025 - 18:32
 0
They are very tiny, but they are a key source of information when it comes to Earth's evolutionary history: pollen grains are usually no larger than 20 micrometers, or 0.02 millimeters. Using these tiny particles, a research team at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and the University of Bonn has managed to pinpoint the earliest emergence of flowering plants, so-called angiosperms, much more precisely.