Posted on 09/17/2023 11:05:56 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Wollemi pine was thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago... In 1994, hikers discovered a group of strange trees growing in a canyon in Wollemi National Park, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Sydney, Australia. One hiker notified a park service naturalist, who then showed leaf specimens to a botanist. It was ultimately determined they represented an ancient species that had been essentially frozen in time since dinosaurs roamed Earth.
Called a "living fossil" by some, the Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis) is nearly identical to preserved remains dating to the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). There are now just 60 of these trees in the wild — and these tenacious survivors are threatened by bushfires in the region. It was thought to have gone extinct around 2 million years ago...
The pine has 26 chromosomes — containing a staggering 12.2 billion base pairs. In comparison, humans have only around 3 billion base pairs...
Indeed, the plants do not exchange much genetic material. The remaining trees appear to reproduce mostly by cloning themselves through coppicing — in which suckers emerge from the base and become new trees.
Their rarity may be partly due to the high number of transposons, or "jumping genes" — stretches of DNA that can change their position within the genome. These elements also account for the genome's size...
As transposons leap to new locations, they can change the sequence of "letters" in a DNA molecule, thus causing or reversing mutations in genes. They may carry functional DNA with them or alter DNA at the site of insertion, and thus have a substantial impact on the evolution of an organism.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Thanks CH. For a long time I’ve been beguiled by the foliage in warmer climes.
My concern is with the 26 chromosomes. Do they contain hexavalent chrome? If so, these plants are very dangerous and must not be allowed to spread!
there is a park in south africa near the cape that has a lot of ancient trees in it from australia and south america europe and asia that date from the time when all the continents were one giant super continent. that park is all that remains of trees and shrubs from that time.
Almost looks like a monstrous marijuana plant behind it.
Reminds of Hartwick Pines State Park in Michigan. 29 acres of original old growth trees, the last of the North American old growth forest.
If only trees could talk...
Another tree thought extinct for millions of years is the Metasequoia. 5 were discovered in a valley in China in about 1946. Know one in town knows how, but three were growing at a house locally. They were cut down because they were too close to the house. They get to be 200 tall. The trees can be purchased online, but plan for a large growth area.
It’d be like The Two Towers.
One tree!
Rookie number.
Now, do the living fossils in Congress!
Evolution ALWAYS occurs, except when it doesn’t. Lousy explanation. The tired mantra of climate, and geologic isolation selecting mutation or non mutation genes doesn’t seem to be operative in this case. It turns out the plant had other techniques already in place. Well, glory be.
Note: the enzymes already present in a eukaryotic cell that are involved in the transposon (DNA) cellular system, and the RETROtransposon(RNA) are why I believe adding any extraneous DNA or mRNA to the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell is potentially harmful to the health, and function of that cells genome. Any advanced college level textbook on cell biology should explain the process involved for the transposon/retrotransposon system.
Chestnut blight came from Europe, not China. Kudzu came from China.
https://tacf.org/
Evolution is driven by environmental stressors. No stress, very little change.
Wait a year or so for roots to develop in the pot. Take off the sun shield and see if the roots have grown. If yes, cut under the bottom of the pot and replant in another favorable location.
Works for figs, it will work for these.
Except that there have been dozens of ice ages and warming periods bringing hot and cold, dry and wet climates. Deserts become rain forests and rain forests become deserts. Pests and diseases come and go. Don’t try to convince me that the environment hasn’t changed in 2 million years where they are.
I never Metasequoia I didn’t like. I have two of those “dawn redwoods” in my back yard (planted both of them myself). They were initially small enough that I could take them home in my compact car. The larger one is probably the tallest tree in my yard now (it’s been there more than 20 years). I have a large yard. They are related to the California redwoods but are deciduous.
Dinosaurs may be found lurking in the foliage.
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