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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Plants

Integrated analysis of fossils and molecular divergence time estimates a latest Jurassic origin of angiosperms

  • Ruolin Wu1
  • Sandra Álvarez-Carretero2
  • Yue Tong3
  • Shan Wan3
  • Harald Schneider4,5
  • James Clark6
  • Davide Pisani7,2
  • Daniele Silvestro8,9,10
  • Philip C. J. Donoghue11
11 affiliations
  1. 1Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. [email protected]
  2. 2Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  3. 3Independent researcher, Hunan, China
  4. 4Center for Integrative Conservation & Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, China
  5. 5State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Speciality Crops, Xishuangbana Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, China
  6. 6Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Life Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UK
  7. 7Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  8. 8Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. [email protected]
  9. 9Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. [email protected]
  10. 10Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Basel, Switzerland. [email protected]
  11. 11Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. [email protected]
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Abstract

Molecular timescales are based on the calibration of molecular evolution to geological time using fossil constraints, but conventional calibration strategies use limited and often subjectively interpreted fossil data. Here we used the Bayesian Brownian Bridge model to derive data-driven calibration densities on the basis of extensive fossil occurrence data. This approach integrates the uncertainty on extant and historical diversity to estimate clade age. We transformed the estimated ages based on >25,000 fossil occurrences into calibration densities, which we used to constrain 110 node ages in a 644-species angiosperm phylogenetic tree inferred from a molecular alignment of 83 genes. The results are incompatible with a post-Jurassic origin of angiosperms, instead inferring a short, Late Jurassic history. Our study demonstrates the utility of a mechanistic approach to establish node-age constraints in molecular-clock-dating analyses, resulting in a more objective method to integrate molecular and palaeontological data when inferring evolutionary timescales.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{wu2026integrated,
  title = {{Integrated analysis of fossils and molecular divergence time estimates a latest Jurassic origin of angiosperms}},
  author = {Ruolin Wu and Sandra Álvarez-Carretero and Yue Tong and Shan Wan and Harald Schneider and James Clark and Davide Pisani and Daniele Silvestro and Philip C. J. Donoghue},
  journal = {Nature Plants},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41477-026-02311-x},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02311-x},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Integrated analysis of fossils and molecular divergence time estimates a latest Jurassic origin of angiosperms
AU  - Ruolin Wu
AU  - Sandra Álvarez-Carretero
AU  - Yue Tong
AU  - Shan Wan
AU  - Harald Schneider
AU  - James Clark
AU  - Davide Pisani
AU  - Daniele Silvestro
AU  - Philip C. J. Donoghue
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/11
JO  - Nature Plants
DO  - 10.1038/s41477-026-02311-x
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02311-x
AB  - Molecular timescales are based on the calibration of molecular evolution to geological time using fossil constraints, but conventional calibration strategies use limited and often subjectively interpreted fossil data. Here we used the Bayesian Brownian Bridge model to derive data-driven calibration densities on the basis of extensive fossil occurrence data. This approach integrates the uncertainty on extant and historical diversity to estimate clade age. We transformed the estimated ages based on >25,000 fossil occurrences into calibration densities, which we used to constrain 110 node ages in a 644-species angiosperm phylogenetic tree inferred from a molecular alignment of 83 genes. The results are incompatible with a post-Jurassic origin of angiosperms, instead inferring a short, Late Jurassic history. Our study demonstrates the utility of a mechanistic approach to establish node-age constraints in molecular-clock-dating analyses, resulting in a more objective method to integrate molecular and palaeontological data when inferring evolutionary timescales.
SN  - 2055-026X
SN  - 2055-0278
ER  -