Flowering Plants May Be 100 Million Years Older Than Thought

[Bella Fortuna]

What kind of thought? Certainly no human thought, but were there no organisms with any sentience at all 100 million years ago?

Triffids!

[That Alien Guy.]

God you anthropist lunatics!

The Gleeverostia had invented off planet travel through seed ejaculation while you were still dribbling you emissions on the leaves and heads of the apes below.

[pErvinalia]

No mention of insects? Insects are supposed have led to the evolution of flowering plants I thought.

I expect pollen was wind-borne prior to insect-attracting flowers evolving.

Pollen, but not flowers. Flowers were have supposed to have evolved to attract pollinating insects.

Large, showy, colourful flowers, certainly. But the flowers of many angiosperms, especially grasses and several trees, are designed for wind-pollination. Ask my hayfever if you want to know more!

Do the folk in the know in this area think that the first angiosperms were wind-pollinated, and that flowers came later?

That would seem logical...

I used to be a botanist. I'm afraid that I can no longer remember. I'd offer to look up one of my textbooks, but google would be quicker (for you, not me on dial up; Have I mentioned I'm on dial up? I don't think I have).