Ancient Species

Flowering Plants

Flowering plants first appeared about 90 million years ago. They rapidly began to diversify - a process which continues today. Despite the diversity of flowering plants, numbers were small and vegetation continued to be dominated by cycads and ferns until the Paleocene Period (66.4 to 58 million years ago).

Grasses first appeared late in the Cretaceous Period (about 70 million years ago) but they were not significant until the Oligocene Period (36.7 to 23.5 million years ago) when vast grasslands developed.