“The preservation happened so quickly that some cells have even been preserved during different stages of cell division”
That’s superb. It immediately allows for cytogenetic comparison of this 180 million year old fern with modern Fern species. How does it compare? Also, with chromosomes being visible, the possibility of partial genetic sequencing becomes possible – lets hope someone attempts it.
“Vajda and her colleagues found that the fern belonged to a family of plants called Osmundaceae. The fossilized fern is one of the ancestors of Royal Ferns, a very common type of plant in Sweden today. Vajda also said that modern Royal Ferns are very similar both in structure and appearance to their Jurassic ancestors. After studying the fossil, the researchers found that this type of fern did not experience any major evolutionary changes even after almost 200 million years. Royal Ferns look essentially the same now as they did during the Jurassic Period and are, therefore, an excellent example of what we call a living fossil”
Very nice indeed. I always like it when someone adds to the list of “Living Fossils”. Living fossils are species that appear phenotypically very much like their ancestors, even though they may differ enormously in genotype. It’s the disconnection between phenotypic and genotypic evolution rates that makes this discovery of chromosomes of Osmundaceae so important. So please add Osmundaceae to the list of ten plants that are already listed as living fossils on Wikipedia