Smaug Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100315161919.htm When one tugs at a single thing in nature; he finds it is attached to the rest of the world. -- John Muir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Interesting; maybe this will smooth-over the inconvenient idea that flowering plants were long-preceded by the insects that rely on them... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Interesting; maybe this will smooth-over the inconvenient idea that flowering plants were long-preceded by the insects that rely on them... Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Interesting; maybe this will smooth-over the inconvenient idea that flowering plants were long-preceded by the insects that rely on them... The common theme when dealing with flowering plants is that "suddenly" the world went from green to colored, and that insects then co-evolved with the flowers. I suspect that if you got in the "way back machine" (who remembers what show that is from?), you would see that there were lots of transitional plants that weren't true flowering plants, but had organs that functioned in a similar fashion. Think of the Ginko, which is a gymnosperm (relative of pine trees), where the female stinks of rotting meat, which I assume, is to attract scavengers. Insects evolved along with these plants, now evolve with the angiosperms, and will continue to evolve with whatever comes next. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 The common theme when dealing with flowering plants is that "suddenly" the world went from green to colored, and that insects then co-evolved with the flowers. I suspect that if you got in the "way back machine" (who remembers what show that is from?), you would see that there were lots of transitional plants that weren't true flowering plants, but had organs that functioned in a similar fashion. Think of the Ginko, which is a gymnosperm (relative of pine trees), where the female stinks of rotting meat, which I assume, is to attract scavengers. Insects evolved along with these plants, now evolve with the angiosperms, and will continue to evolve with whatever comes next. Brent Ashcraft That's exactly right Brent. There are a few studies that document insect-qymnosperm interaction in the Triassic and Jurassic so I have no doubt that insects were ready when the angiosperms first appeared. “When you're riding in a time machine way far into the future, don't stick your elbow out the window, or it'll turn into a fossil.” - Jack Handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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