47-Million-Year-Old Fossil Plant Defies Classification, Revealing Extinct Lineage

New analysis of fossils from Utah's Green River Formation identifies a plant with unique traits unseen in modern or extinct species, suggesting an entirely extinct family of flowering plants.

• The plant, named Othniophyton elongatum, was first discovered in 1969 but has been reclassified after recent fossil analysis revealed it is unrelated to any known plant families.
• Newly studied fossils, featuring leaves, flowers, and fruits, provided critical details that contradicted prior assumptions linking the plant to the ginseng family.
• Microscopy and artificial intelligence technology uncovered unique traits, including stamens that remained attached to fruits after fertilization, a feature absent in any modern plants.
• Despite comparisons with over 400 families of flowering plants, researchers could not match the fossil to any living or extinct species, suggesting the plant's lineage is entirely extinct.
• The findings highlight the complexity of ancient ecosystems and underscore the challenges of reconstructing plant evolution from limited fossil evidence.

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