Fascinating what scientists can do with computers and their deeper understanding of genetics and evolution. Excerpt:
Flowering plants, or angiosperms, make up about 90 percent of all terrestrial plants alive today, but the origin of these colorful and fragrant flora has remained something of a mystery. Because of genetic evidence, researchers believe all 225,000-plus species of angiosperm derive from a single ancestor that lived between 140 million and 250 million years ago, but without clear fossil evidence, what this first flower looked like is unknown.
That is, until now. Researchers writing in the journal Nature Communications have compiled the single largest set of data on flowering plants, including data points on 792 flowers, with at least one from each angiosperm order, whether living or fossilized. This immense data was then used to build a chronogram using molecular dating. Basically, a computer was used to number crunch a family tree based on differences that arose through mutations between species, reports Discover.
