It was not only mammals that became winners when the dinosaurs were wiped out. New findings suggest that grapevines emerged directly after and as a consequence of the extinction.
It may be fitting to express gratitude to the foreign celestial body that crashed into the Earth 66 million years ago and led to the death of 75 percent of all animal species on Earth, including the dinosaurs.
Without its help, we would likely not have existed and we would not have been able to enjoy a good glass of wine with dinner.
Oldest evidence
This is revealed by a study by researchers at the Field Museum in Chicago, USA, published in the scientific journal Nature Plants. The study describes new finds of fossilized grapes with an age of 60 million years. The fossils were found in Colombia in South America and are the oldest known evidence of the existence of grapevines in the Western Hemisphere. Similar fossils from the same time period have previously been found in India, indicating that grapevines, the family Vitaceae, actually emerged at this time.
The question is how strong the connection is. The researchers behind the study point out that almost all ecosystems on Earth underwent a major transformation due to the catastrophe. And plants were affected just as much as animals.
Grapevines benefited
Large animals, like dinosaurs, shape the ecosystems they live in. We suspect that they knocked down trees on a large scale and kept forests more open than they are today, says Monica Carvalho, paleontologist at the University of Michigan and participant in the study.
Without dinosaurs, many forests became different, with a denser structure in multiple layers; undergrowth, middle layer, and upper layer. Plants that climb on other plants were favored. This likely included grapevines.
They may also have been favored by the emergence of new groups of mammals and birds that ate the grapes and spread their seeds.
Roland Johansson/TT
Facts: Grapevines
Grapevines, the family Vitaceae, comprise 14 genera with over 900 species. They are mainly found in subtropical and tropical regions. Most species are climbing with the help of inflorescences that have transformed into tendrils. The best-known belong to the genus Vitis, the common grapevines.
Sources: National Encyclopedia and the journal Phytotaxa
