Evaluating genomes, researchers discovered patterns affected by climate change over millions of years.The mystery behind the origin, development, and dispersal around the world of iconic baobabs has been fixed by scientists.Also known as upside-down trees, or the tree of life, the renowned baobabs have much cultural significance, motivating numerous arts, folklore, and traditions. Credit: Alex Antonelli (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) Baobabs Unique Growth and PollinationThe charming baobabs have impressive development forms, reaching huge sizes with massive trunks, but obviously small crowns, offering them their iconic look as upside-down trees. Ilia Leitch at Royal Botanic Garden Kew stated, “This work has revealed new insights into the patterns of speciation in baobabs and reveals how climate change has actually influenced baobab distribution and speciation patterns over millions of years.” For more on this research, see Decoding the Mysterious Origins of Baobab Trees.Reference: “The increase of baobab trees in Madagascar” by Jun-Nan Wan, Sheng-Wei Wang, Andrew R. Leitch, Ilia J. Leitch, Jian-Bo Jian, Zhang-Yan Wu, Hai-Ping Xin, Mijoro Rakotoarinivo, Guy Eric Onjalalaina, Robert Wahiti Gituru, Can Dai, Geoffrey Mwachala, Ming-Zhou Bai, Chen-Xi Zhao, Hong-Qi Wang, Sheng-Lan Du, Neng Wei, Guang-Wan Hu, Si-Chong Chen, Xiao-Ya Chen, Tao Wan and Qing-Feng Wang, 15 May 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-024-07447-4.
Examining genomes, researchers found patterns influenced by environment change over millions of years.The mystery behind the origin, evolution, and dispersal around the world of renowned baobabs has been fixed by scientists.Also known as upside-down trees, or the tree of life, the iconic baobabs have much cultural significance, motivating numerous arts, folklore, and traditions. Credit: Alex Antonelli (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) Baobabs Unique Growth and PollinationThe charismatic baobabs have amazing development types, reaching huge sizes with huge trunks, but apparently small crowns, providing them their iconic appearance as upside-down trees. Ilia Leitch at Royal Botanic Garden Kew stated, “This work has actually discovered new insights into the patterns of speciation in baobabs and shows how climate change has actually affected baobab circulation and speciation patterns over millions of years.
