{"id":9890,"date":"2024-05-25T08:09:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T08:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9890"},"modified":"2024-05-25T11:31:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T11:31:00","slug":"scientists-solve-mystery-of-ancient-tree-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9890","title":{"rendered":"Scientists solve mystery of ancient \u2018tree of life\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Scientists have solved the mystery of the origins of ancient baobab trees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to DNA studies, the iconic trees first arose in Madagascar 21 million years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Their seeds were later carried on ocean currents to Australia and also to mainland Africa, evolving into distinct species.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The researchers are calling for greater conservation efforts for the trees, which they say may be closer to extinction than previously thought.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Baobabs are known as \u201cthe tree of life\u201d or \u201cupside down tree\u201d for their strange shapes and longevity. They are in trouble because of climate change and widespread deforestation.<\/p>\n

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\nThe African baobab grows across much of the continent\/ Getty Images\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dr Ilia Leitch, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, worked on the study, alongside her husband, Prof Andrew Leitch, of Queen Mary University of London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe have been able to pinpoint the origin of baobabs, which are an iconic keystone species supporting a wide diversity of animals and plants as well as humans,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAnd the data have enabled us to provide important new insights which will inform their conservation to safeguard their future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The researchers studied eight baobab species, six of which are found in Madagascar, one widespread across Africa, and another in north-west Australia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They are calling for a higher conservation status for two endangered Malagasy species,\u00a0including the biggest and most famous of Madagascar\u2019s baobabs, the giant baobab.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\nThe fruits are large and berry-like\/AlexAntonelli-royalbotanicgardenskew\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Baobabs are one of the most remarkable trees on earth, deeply intertwined with local cultures and traditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They are also known as \u201cmother of the forest\u201d in Malagasy language, the \u201cupside down tree\u201d and the \u201ctree of life\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The trees can live for thousands of years, growing to a huge size and storing large amounts of water in their trunks to survive through the dry seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Their fruits are regarded as a super food and their trunk can be used to make fibres which are used for ropes or clothing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They produce large white flowers that open at dusk, attracting bats as pollinators, which travel vast distances to feed on their nectar, and they are important nesting sites for birds.<\/p>\n

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Scientists have solved the mystery of the origins of ancient baobab trees. According to DNA studies, the iconic trees first arose in Madagascar 21 million years ago. Their seeds were… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9907,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9890\/revisions\/9907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}