A team of paleontologists and paleobotanists made a historic discovery in the province of Chubut. It involves tiny 101-million-year-old fossil flowers that appeared in the same site where the Patagotitan mayorum, the largest known dinosaur to date, was unearthed.
This record is one of the oldest in the southern part of South America and one of the best-dated in Gondwana, providing key information about the early radiation of angiosperms in the southern hemisphere.
An Unexpected Discovery
The study was led by specialists from the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum (MEF) and CONICET, in collaboration with the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis and Cornell University. The results were published in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.
The new species was named Patagoflora minima, a name that combines “Patagonia” and “flower,” while “minima” refers to its tiny size. The contrast is evident: these small flowers appeared at the same site as the gigantic Patagotitan mayorum, highlighting the vast difference in size between the two fossils.
According to Giovanni Nunes (MEF-CONICET), the discovery was fortuitous:
“It was completely unexpected. In 2014, during excavations at the La Flecha ranch to recover more than 150 bones of Patagotitan, plant remains also began to appear a few meters from the main site.”
Details of the Discovery
The team recorded conifer woods and leaf impressions, but laboratory analysis revealed something more: small flowers less than a centimeter in diameter, well-preserved, allowing observation of morphological details typical of the first flowering plants.
This is one of the few cases in the world where flowers and dinosaurs are preserved together. The fossils were preserved in a fluvial-lacustrine environment, near ancient bodies of water. Although conifers dominated the landscape, flowering plants were already diversifying and likely formed part of the diet of some herbivores.
Scientific Importance
Most of the fossil record of the early radiation of angiosperms comes from the northern hemisphere. Therefore, finding such ancient flowers in Patagonia is crucial:
“It gives us a first look at what the first flowering plants were like in this part of the Southern Hemisphere and helps fill that gap,” said Nunes.
Although the preservation is good, the complete appearance of the plant and its exact lineage have not yet been determined, as the remains were not connected to leaves or branches. It is hypothesized that the oldest flowers were herbaceous, although the discovery of angiosperm wood suggests that some could have been shrubby or small trees.
Next Steps
The team plans to expand campaigns in the region with the aim of finding better-preserved specimens that will allow understanding this key stage in the history of life, when flowers began to transform the planet’s landscapes.
The work published in Cretaceous Research was conducted by Giovanni Nunes (CONICET-MEF), Ignacio Escapa (CONICET-MEF), Luis Miguel Sender (Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis, Spain), N. Rubén Cúneo (MEF) and Maria A. Gandolfo (Cornell University, United States).
The discovery of Patagoflora minima in Chubut not only expands knowledge about the early evolution of flowering plants but also reinforces the importance of Patagonia as a scene of unique paleontological discoveries.
The fossil coexistence of tiny flowers and giant dinosaurs offers a privileged window into a world over 100 million years ago.
