[Taxacom] fossil potato relative

[John Grehan]

Probably just being polite :)

Here is what they said in their article. Note the first sentence in
particular.

"Our results reinforce the emerging pattern
wherein numerous fossil plant taxa from Gondwanan
Patagonia and Antarctica are substantially
older than their corresponding molecular
dates (26, 27), demonstrating Gondwanan history
for groups conjectured to have post-Gondwanan
origins under entirely different paleogeographic
and paleoclimatic scenarios. Likewise, the derived
position of the newly identified fossil species
shows that the origins and diversification
of Solanaceae must have taken place at a much
earlier time than previously thought, considerably
before final Gondwanan breakup. Other
regions of Gondwana are also likely to have
played prominent roles in Solanaceae evolution,
especially Antarctica, which has produced
other important asterid fossils (27). Moreover,
the newly identified fossils directly help to
resolve temporal inconsistencies between the
evolutionary timing of Solanaceae and its herbivores
and mutualists (28). The large fossil
berry strongly implicates trophic associations
with animals, as seen in extant Physalis (29).
Today, Physalis inhabits South, Central, and
North America, and Mexico is its center of diversity
(2). Thus, the fossils establish a rare link
to extant New World floras from late-Gondwanan
Patagonian assemblages, whose living relatives
are mostly concentrated in the Old World tropics
and subtropics."

On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 8:21 PM, David Campbell <pleuronaia at gmail.com>
wrote:

> "The fossils underpin the need for researchers to be careful"
>
> Why not conclude "the fossils show that the molecular clock dates were
> wrong"?  Calibration, calculation, and interpretation of molecular clocks
> all have serious problems - why use them?
>
> On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 1:52 PM, John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Not making any judgement about this one, but notice comment on molecular
> > clocks at the end.
> >
> > John Grehan
> >
> > http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/52millionyearold-fossil-
> > relative-to-the-potato-discovered-in-patagonia/
> >
> > Despite becoming ubiquitous in almost every corner of the world,
> > surprisingly little is known about the deep evolutionary history of the
> > group of plants that gave rise to potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco.
> > Now, researchers
> > have found
> > <http://phys.org/news/2017-01-south-american-fossil-
> > tomatillos-nightshades.html>
> >  just how far back these organisms go, with the discovery of a fossil
> > relative that dates back to 52 million years ago, tens of millions of
> years
> > older than previously thought.
> >
> > The fossil belongs to a fragile berry of a plant known as a tomatillo, or
> > ground cherry. They form fruit that is often surrounded by a thin, papery
> > lantern, making it difficult for them to be fossilized
> > <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38511034>. Members of the
> > *Physalis* genus, they form a small branch of the nightshade family,
> which
> > in turn includes many commercially important crops, from potatoes
> > and petunias to chillies and aubergines.
> >
> > The only fossil fruits ever found from this family of almost 2,000
> species
> > of plants, the two specimens were discovered in a fossilized rainforest
> > that once grew across Patagonia in South America. With a lack of
> available
> > fossils for this group of plants, researchers have had to rely on
> molecular
> > dates for when the nightshade plants first evolved, and had settled on
> the
> > figure of around 35 to 51 million years old, while the tomatillo was
> > thought to be a relative newcomer at only 10 million years old.
> >
> > This new discovery, however, completely changes this. The fossils, dating
> > to 52 million years ago, show that the ground cherries are actually a
> > relatively ancient branch of the nightshade family. “We exhaustively
> > analyzed every detail of these fossils in comparison with all potential
> > living relatives and there is no question that they represent the world's
> > first physalis fossils and the first fossil fruits of the nightshade
> > family,” says
> > <http://phys.org/news/2017-01-south-american-fossil-
> > tomatillos-nightshades.html>
> >  Professor Peter Wilf, from Pennsylvania State University.
> >
> > The fossils underpin the need for researchers to be careful when deducing
> > an organism's evolutionary age solely from molecular clocks.
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> > Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting Ambiguity for 31 Some Years, 1987-2018.
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. David Campbell
> Associate Professor, Geology
> Department of Natural Sciences
> Box 7270
> Gardner-Webb University
> Boiling Springs NC 28017
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> Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting Ambiguity for 31 Some Years, 1987-2018.
>