Ancestor of all flowers revealed by scientists 科学家揭示花卉“祖先”的样貌

一项发表在《自然通讯》杂志上的研究表明，地球上现存的所有花卉植物都可以追溯到1.4 亿年前的同一个“祖先”。科学家们通过计算机将花卉演化的模型与现存最大的鲜花特征数据库组合在一起，推测出地球上第一朵花的样貌。请听报道。

From roses and lilies to cherry trees and wheat, there are hundreds of thousands of species of flowering plants, and every single one of them traces back to a single ancestral flower that grew 140 million years ago.

Now by analysing the evolutionary differences between living species to track how the floral features have changed over time, scientists have been able to reconstruct this ancient bloom’s appearance. And instead of the primitive-looking species they were expecting, a complex, multi-part organism has emerged.

The flower had concentric circles of petal-like features which are grouped in sets of threes, with multiple male and female reproductive organs.

Some questions about this species remain, such as its colour and size. Scientists say a fossil of the bloom could help, although no floral relics from this ancient period have yet been found.

词汇表 traces back to 追溯到

ancestral 祖先的

evolutionary 进化上的 

changed over time 随着时间改变了

【Ancestor of all flowers revealed by scientists 科学家揭示花卉“祖先”的样貌】相关文章：

★ Spread、expand 和 extend 三个表示“延展”的动词

★ Farthest monster black hole found 天文学家发现距地球最远的巨型黑洞

★ Inverted，upside down 和 reverse 三个表示“颠倒”的单词

★ Fake, counterfeit and bogus 三个表示“假”的形容词

★ Verge, fringe, brink and border 四个表示“边缘”的名词

★ All things to all people 八面玲珑

★ Orangutan squeaks reveal language evolution, says study 科学家称红毛猩猩叫声揭示人类早期语言进化过程

★ Mysteries of elephant sleep revealed 科学家揭开大象的睡眠模式之谜

★ Except, except for, apart from, besides 四种表示“除了”的说法

★ The future of food production 食物生产的未来