In a landmark study, researchers reconstructed what happened to South America’s flora after the fateful asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ended the age of dinosaurs.
By analyzing tens of thousands of fossil pollen grains and leaves from Colombia, they found that the impact wiped out 45% of plant species, toppled ancient conifer- and fern-dominated open forests, and set the stage for a true botanical revolution.
➡️ This research offers a vivid reminder that cataclysmic events (whether cosmic or human-driven) can set entire ecosystems on new paths, with consequences measured in millions of years.
Protecting current rainforests is not only about preserving today’s biodiversity, but also honoring the deep evolutionary history that shaped these irreplaceable habitats.
Out of this mass extinction, flowering plants (angiosperms) surged, evolving into the densely layered, biodiversity-rich ecosystems we know today as the Amazon and neotropical rainforests.
The formation of a closed canopy dramatically changed light, nutrients, and plant-animal interactions, eventually giving rise to the most diverse plant communities on Earth.
The study’s authors point out that such catastrophic changes shaped evolutionary trajectories for millions of years, and serve as a cautionary tale as human activity today rapidly transforms the Amazon and other global forests.
Gratitude to the paleobotanists, ecologists, and interdisciplinary teams whose work uncovers the roots of our living planet and informs the decisions that will determine its future.
Reference:
Carvalho, M.R., et al. (2021). Extinction at the end-Cretaceous and the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests. Science, 372(6537), 63–68.
Discovery Spotlight: From Catastrophe to Canopy
