The finding was published on the latest English edition of Acta Geologica Sinica, an academic journal owned by the Geological Society of China.

 

The plant -- Juraherba bodae -- was found near in the southeast corner of Inner Mongolia by Professor Han Gang of the palaeontological center of Bohai University in Liaoning Province.

 

Less than four centimeters tall, the fossil has root, stem, leaves and fruit well preserved. "The occurrence of fructifications implies that the plant is already mature," Han said. "The small size of this mature plant indicates that Juraherba is a herbaceous seed plant, most likely an angiosperm. The seeds enclosed in the fructifications further confirm angiospermous affinity³." 

 

It could be the earliest record of herbaceous seed plants as well as of herbaceous angiosperms. "Most Western botanists² believe that angiosperms originated from the early Cretaceous period (about 125 million years ago), but the discovery of Juraherba bodae moves that date back 40 million years," Han said. 

 

Botanist¹ Li Bingtao described the finding as a "great discovery."

点击收听单词发音