Fruits of Qingganninginfructus formosa and contained seeds (Photo/Courtesy of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Chinese researchers have found a fossil of an ancient plant dating back to 170 million years ago.

The Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently announced they had discovered the earliest known angiosperm through fossil reexamination in Northwest china.

The researcher in charge of the study said that flowers and fruits are part of the angiosperm family. Angiosperms are the most evolved, diverse, widely distributed and adaptable group of plants today. There are 300,000 species of extant angiosperms around the world.

The research team reexamined a Jurassic plant fossil from about 170 million years ago in the Northwest of China. The plant was previously thought to be a gymnosperm, named Qingganninginfructus formosa. In the latest study, the team used micro-CT technology to scan the fossil and found that the interior contained inverted ovules, which is a key feature for determining angiosperms.

The study was jointly worked on by Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou University, Ningxia Geological Museum and Northwest University. The related research results were recently published in Life, an international biological periodical.