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Takhtajania perrieri rediscovered

Abstract

Spectacular finds of early Cretaceous fossil flowers during the past decade have fuelled a resurgence of research into the origin of flowering plants1, the “abominable mystery” that so captivated Darwin. Now Takhtajania perrieri (Capuron) Baranova & J.-F. Leroy, the only extant Africa/ Madagascar representative of the family Winteraceae, has been rediscovered in northeastern Madagascar, 85 years after its original finding. Scientists will thus once again have a ‘living fossil’ to study and place in the context of both extinct and other extant primitive angiosperms.

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Schatz, G., Lowry, P. & Ramisamihantanirina, A. Takhtajania perrieri rediscovered. Nature 391, 133–134 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/34320

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