The centipede clubmoss, or Leclercqia scolopendra is its scientific name, lived during the Devonian Period, or "age of the fishes"and was one of few plants with leaves. Centipede clubmoss shoots were about a quarter inch thick and formed ground covering mats. Its leaves have hooks on the end, their function is unknown. Modern lycopods include club mosses, quillworts, and spikemosses.
Jeff Benca's colorful reconstruction of the Leclercqia scolopendra, featured on the cover of American Journal of Botany
Benca wrote the paper on this plant to describe a new technique that is helping botanists learn about early land plant fossils and be more confident about it. He created the model because there are not many thorough reconstructions of 375 million year old plants. "I wanted to give an impression of what they may have really looked like. There are great color reconstructions of dinosaurs, so why not a plant?" said Benca.
NOS Themes:
- Science is based on evidence
- Person's view and experience can influence data
- Role of motivation and curiosity
This is super interesting! I found another article that discusses regenerating plants from seeds that are over 32,000 years ago. A Russian team discovered a seed cache of a flowering plant native to Siberia that had been buried during Ice Age. The team extracted that tissue from the frozen seeds, placed it in vials, and successfully germinated the plants.
ReplyDeleteFor more information: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science/