Have you ever thought that the extinction of dinosaurs is likely connected to the grapes you eat today or the wine you drink? And yes, before you ask, grape plants are quite old.
It’s not confirmed if giants roaming the earth millions of years ago knew how to make wine, but they probably ate a lot of grapes, so when they disappeared approximately 66 million years ago, vining plants, such as grapes, could truly spread throughout the globe.
Paleobotanist Fabiany Herrera, an assistant curator of paleobotany at the Field Museum in Chicago’s Negaunee Integrative Research Center, took inspiration from a 2013 study published by his PhD advisor, Steven Manchester, describing the oldest known grape seed fossil from India. He consequently set out for South America in search of one, as he suspected they might be there too. His efforts paid off in 2022 when team member Mónica Carvalho, an assistant curator at the University of Michigan, spotted a grape fossil in the Colombian Andes.
This 60-million-year-old find was not only the first in South America but also among the oldest globally, and eventually the team found nine new fossil grape species, between 19 million and 60 million years old.
In their findings, published in Nature Plants, Herrera describes the grape seeds found in Colombia, Panama, and Peru that represent the oldest known grape species in the Western Hemisphere, shedding light on how grapes spread after the dinosaurs’ demise.
“These are the oldest grapes ever found in this part of the world, and they’re a few million years younger than the oldest ones ever found on the other side of the planet,” says Herrera, the lead author of the Nature Plants paper.
“This discovery is important because it shows that after the extinction of the dinosaurs, grapes really started to spread across the world.”
Herrera said that this event also reshaped plant life. “We often focus on dinosaurs, but the extinction had a significant impact on plants too,” he said. “The forests essentially reset, changing the plant composition.”
Mónica Carvalho noted that without dinosaurs to clear space, tropical forests became denser with layered canopies, creating opportunities for climbing plants like grapes.
This period also saw the diversification of birds and mammals, which likely helped spread grape seeds.
These findings show that grapes are a resilient group, enduring extinctions but adapting and surviving elsewhere.
So now, sit back and enjoy the miraculous plant that brings us Chardonnay or Syrah, thinking how dinosaurs had to go for us, after 60 million years, to sip from our favorite vines without hearing the loud stomping of Brachiosaurus or the terrifying roar of Tyrannosaurus.
Paleobotanist Fabiany Herrera, an assistant curator of paleobotany at the Field Museum in Chicago’s Negaunee Integrative Research Center, took inspiration from a 2013 study published by his PhD advisor, Steven Manchester, describing the oldest known grape seed fossil from India. He consequently set out for South America in search of one, as he suspected they might be there too. His efforts paid off in 2022 when team member Mónica Carvalho, an assistant curator at the University of Michigan, spotted a grape fossil in the Colombian Andes.
This 60-million-year-old find was not only the first in South America but also among the oldest globally, and eventually the team found nine new fossil grape species, between 19 million and 60 million years old.
In their findings, published in Nature Plants, Herrera describes the grape seeds found in Colombia, Panama, and Peru that represent the oldest known grape species in the Western Hemisphere, shedding light on how grapes spread after the dinosaurs’ demise.
“These are the oldest grapes ever found in this part of the world, and they’re a few million years younger than the oldest ones ever found on the other side of the planet,” says Herrera, the lead author of the Nature Plants paper.
“This discovery is important because it shows that after the extinction of the dinosaurs, grapes really started to spread across the world.”
The oldest grape seed fossils found in India date back 66 million years—coinciding with the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and drastically altered Earth’s ecosystems.New Article: "Cenozoic seeds of Vitaceae reveal a deep history of extinction and dispersal in the Neotropics" https://t.co/zroiLCp6GF
— Nature Plants (@NaturePlants) July 3, 2024
Grapes in the New World: fossil seeds (60- 20 million years old) from Colombia, Panama and Perú show patterns of diversity and local extinctions. https://t.co/9tr5qLLnIh pic.twitter.com/0DRdX9f2Yj
Herrera said that this event also reshaped plant life. “We often focus on dinosaurs, but the extinction had a significant impact on plants too,” he said. “The forests essentially reset, changing the plant composition.”
Mónica Carvalho noted that without dinosaurs to clear space, tropical forests became denser with layered canopies, creating opportunities for climbing plants like grapes.
This period also saw the diversification of birds and mammals, which likely helped spread grape seeds.
These findings show that grapes are a resilient group, enduring extinctions but adapting and surviving elsewhere.
So now, sit back and enjoy the miraculous plant that brings us Chardonnay or Syrah, thinking how dinosaurs had to go for us, after 60 million years, to sip from our favorite vines without hearing the loud stomping of Brachiosaurus or the terrifying roar of Tyrannosaurus.
Source: TVP World, nature.com, fieldmuseum.org
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