Scientists have uncovered a fossilized plant so unusual that it defies classification within any known family of flowering plants, living or extinct, the Independent reports.
The discovery, which highlights the complexity of ancient ecosystems, was published in the journal Annals of Botany.
The plant, named Othniophyton elongatum — which translates to “alien plant” — was first found in 1969 in Rainbow, Utah, a former mining town that is now a ghost town. Recent analysis of newly discovered fossils, including intact leaves, fruits, and flowers attached to the plant’s stem, has revealed a set of physical characteristics that researchers have not seen in any other known plant species.
When the fossil was initially discovered, researchers could only identify its species by analyzing the shape and vein patterns of its leaves. At the time, they hypothesized that the plant might belong to the ginseng family, largely because its leaves appeared to have multiple smaller leaflets, a feature common in ginseng-related plants.
However, fresh analysis of newly unearthed fossil specimens has upended this assumption. Unlike the earlier samples, the newly discovered fossils clearly show that the leaves were directly attached to the stem, rather than forming compound leaf structures. This single discovery was enough to rule out the ginseng family entirely.
“This fossil is rare in having the twig with attached fruits and leaves. Usually, those are found separately,” said study co-author Dr. Steven Manchester of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
“The two twigs we found show the same kind of leaf attached, but they’re not compound. They’re simple, which eliminates the possibility of it being anything in that family,” Dr. Manchester added.
The researchers meticulously examined the leaves, flowers, and fruits from the new fossils, comparing them to the over 400 known families of flowering plants still alive today. They used digital microscopes and computer-enhanced illumination to detect minute details, such as internal seed structures and the plant’s unique floral anatomy.
One of the most striking discoveries was in the plant’s stamens — the male reproductive organs. In most modern plants, the stamens detach after the flower is fertilized. But in Othniophyton elongatum, the stamens remain attached even as the fruits and seeds fully mature.
“This thing seems unusual in that it’s retaining the stamens at the time it has mature fruits with seeds ready to disperse. We haven’t seen that in anything modern,” Dr. Manchester explained.
This feature, along with other anatomical details, ruled out all modern flowering plant families. Attempts to match the plant to any known extinct family of plants were equally unsuccessful, leading researchers to conclude that Othniophyton elongatum likely represents a lone member of an entirely unknown plant family.
The discovery of Othniophyton elongatum raises new questions about how much ancient ecosystems have been lost to time. Researchers warn that trying to force fossils like these into modern plant families can give a skewed impression of ancient biodiversity.
“There are many things for which we have good evidence to put in a modern family or genus, but you can’t always shoehorn these things,” said Dr. Manchester.
This is especially relevant for plant fossils dating back less than 65 million years. Since many fossilized plants from this era are often categorized within modern plant families, their diversity can be underestimated.
Fellow researcher Julian Correa-Narvaez echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how the discovery could offer fresh insight into the evolution of ancient plant life.
“It’s important because it gives us a little bit of a clue about how these organisms were evolving and adapting in different places,” he said.
