Flowering plants are characterized by an astonishing diversity of flowers of different shapes and sizes. This diversity has arisen in adaptation to selection imposed by different pollinators including among others bees, flies, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats or rodents.
![]() |
This is a flower of the bee-pollinated species Meriania hernandoi from the Ecuadorian cloud forest [Credit: Agnes Dellinger] |
In a recent study published in Communications Biology, scientists around Agnes Dellinger from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research from the University of Vienna investigated flowers of 30 species of a tropical plant group (Merianieae) from the Andes.
![]() |
This is a flower of a passerine-pollinated species of the genus Axinaea [Credit: Agnes Dellinger] |
The researchers could show that flower shapes have evolved in adaptation to the distinct pollinators, but that flower shape evolution was not homogeneous across the flower. In particular, the showy sterile organs of flowers (petals) adapted to the different pollinators more quickly than the rest of the flower: the reproductive organs have evolved more slowly.
![]() |
This is a flower of the hummingbird- and bat-pollinated species Meriania radula from the Ecuadorian paramo [Credit: Agnes Dellinger] |
Source: University of Vienna [December 05, 2019]
* This article was originally published here
Комментариев нет:
Отправка комментария