Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba trees survived the atomic bombing that occured in Hiroshima in the 1940's, and are still alive to this day. This is how the species demonstrates it's incredible strength and maintains it's reputation as being one of the most resilient trees to have ever existed.

-They are often referred to as a "living fossil" because these plants look similar to fossil specimens from many millions of years ago.

-They are older than most dinosaurs, as the Ginkgo ancestors have survived from over 275 million years ago.

-The leaves of a Ginkgo tree are unique is that no other tree leaf resembles it.

-These trees survived atomic bomb explosions that occurred in Hiroshima.

Evolutionary History of Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba is known by many to be one of the oldest plant species to have existed on this planet. It was initially seen in the Paeozoic Era, in the Permina Period an estimated two-hundred seventy million years ago. It falls under the Ginkgophytes group, which initially was a group that was spread throughout all of Earth. Twenty-million years later, in the Mesozoic Era, ancestors of this species was spread throuhgout the Northern Hemisphere and grew with the dinosours. Unfortunately during the Cenzoic Era, competition from other species and climate change had eliminated almost the whole group of Ginkgophytes. Ginkgo biloba was the only species that was sturdy enough to overcome these challenges, hence it is the last remaining species of the Ginkgophytes and is referred to as a living fossil due to it's origins.

Scientific Classification

-Domain: Eukarya

-Kingdom: Plantae

-Clade: Seed Plants

-Group: Gymnosperms

-Division: Ginkgophyta

-Species: Ginkgo biloba

Sub-members

This species is related to the gymnosperm group and has similarities to the following plants:

-Cycads

-Ephedra

-Conifers

The difference between these groups an the Ginkgophyte are that Ginkgo biloba is the only remaining species of the Ginkgophyte group.

The Origin Of Life

Prokaryote and Eukaryote Diversity

The Origin Of Multicellularity & Diversity of Animals

DEEP TIME: The History of Life on Earth

The Origin of Viruses

References

Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V., & Orr, R. B. (2020). Campbell Biology (12th ed.). Pearson Education.

Crane, P. (2013). Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot. Yale University Press. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300187519/ginkgo

Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.). Ginkgo biloba Plant Finder. Retrieved from https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org

Smithsonian Magazine. (2017). The World Told Through the Eyes of the Ginkgo Tree. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/world-told-through-eyes-ginkgo-tree-180963209/

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (2017). Can You Help Us Clear the Fossil Air? Retrieved from https://naturalhistory.si.edu

University of California Museum of Paleontology. (n.d.). Introduction to the Ginkgoales. Retrieved from https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/ginkgoales/ginkgo.html

University of California Museum of Paleontology. (n.d.). Ginkgoales Fossil Record. Retrieved from https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/ginkgoales/ginkgofr.html

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Ginkgo biloba. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved from https://powo.science.kew.org

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (n.d.). Ginkgo biloba. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved from https://www.iucnredlist.org

Zhou, Z., & Zheng, S. (2003). The missing link in Ginkgo evolution. Nature, 423(6942), 821–822. https://www.nature.com/articles/423821a

Tralau, H. (1966). Ginkgo biloba: A living fossil. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 59(2), 121–135.

National Park Service. (n.d.). The Hiroshima Ginkgo Trees. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov

American Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Living Fossils and Ancient Plants. Retrieved from https://www.amnh.org

Royal Horticultural Society. (n.d.). Ginkgo biloba. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk

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