Plant Grown from Ancient Seeds

Living plants of an extinct species of narrow-leafed campion (Silene stenophylla) have been grown from 32,000-year-old seeds discovered in the burrow of an Arctic ground squirrel in northeastern Siberia, the oldest plant by far ever grown from ancient tissue.

Earliest Land Plants

Fossils of the earliest plants (liverworts) to have colonized dry land have been found in Argentina, pushing back this event by 10 million years to have the ancestor of all land plants growing on dry ground as early as 472 million years ago.

Fossils Reveal Zombie Ants

The discovery of a fossilized leaf has revealed a very distinct scar left by an ant infected by an ancient parasitic fungus similar to modern Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which takes over the minds of the ant hosts and forces them to leave their colonies and seek out a plant that provides the ideal conditions for the fungus to reproduce.