Floral Evolution: Dramatic Size Change Was Recent and Rapid in the World's Largest Flowers
نویسنده
چکیده
Recent studies clarifying the closest relatives of the world's largest flowers, Rafflesiaceae, whose floral diameters range from approximately 11 to approximately 100 cm, indicated that they evolved from tiny-flowered ancestors in a burst of floral gigantism. New data now suggest that floral size evolution within Rafflesiaceae may be more dynamic than expected, with both recent and rapid changes in flower size.
منابع مشابه
Accelerated Rates of Floral Evolution at the Upper Size Limit for Flowers
Evolutionary theory explains phenotypic change as the result of natural selection, with constraint limiting the direction, magnitude, and rate of response [1]. Constraint is particularly likely to govern evolutionary change when a trait is at perceived upper or lower limits. Macroevolutionary rates of floral-size change are unknown for any angiosperm family, but it is predicted that rates shoul...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 18 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008