Stories Hidden in Pollen Titelbild

Stories Hidden in Pollen

Stories Hidden in Pollen

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 Grains of pollen are like Mother Nature’s fingerprints, allowing scientists to track the migratory paths of dinosaurs and solve long-cold murder cases. Flowering plants evolved 100 million years ago, and within 30 million years dominated the planet. Today, there are almost 400,000 species. One reason for their global success is their remarkable fertilization system. A single flower can produce hundreds of thousands of pollen grains, which can be distributed by the wind, insects, or animals, fertilizing other plants miles away. Each plant produces a distinct-looking pollen grain. And each place on Earth, even each square block or backyard garden, has a distinct mix of plants. By studying the mix of pollen grains found on a person, animal, or object, scientists can now tell precisely where they have been. And since pollen is highly durable, outlasting the plants that produced it by thousands of years and surviving in the fossil record for millions, scientists can use it for ancient detective work. Recently, paleontologists used fossil pollen in the digestive tracts of dinosaurs to tell what they ate and where. Forensic palynologists now use pollen found on murder victims and suspects to place them in the same location, or even to discover where bodies have been hidden. The new science of palynology is cross-pollinating many other fields, allowing a deeper understanding of Earth.
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