Flower Evolution With T. rex, Dimetrodon, and Edaphosaurus

T. rex mother and chick among the Flowers

You see a T. rex drawing and think, "Why is this post about flowers?"  The answer is that new research out of Switzerland has discovered that flowering plants...including plants that needed insect pollinators, appeared 100 million years before was previously thought!   Scientists from the University of Zurich found pollen grains in in drill cores from 240 million year old rocks.  It was previously thought that flowering plants never appeared until near the end of the dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era.  Then other discoveries pushed it back to 140 million years ago in the Jurassic.  NOW it is shown that there were flowering plants BEFORE the dinosaurs...in the Early Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era. Since more than one species of pollen was found in the drill cores we can infer that possibly the flowering plants appeared well before the Triassic.

Another unique thing about this pollen that was discovered is that it had structures on the pollen grains to grab onto insect parts...so not only were there flowering plants, but there were flowers with petals.   So the Mesozoic Era was much prettier than previously thought.   By the way, this is the first drawing I recall doing with T. rex and flowers.  By the late Cretaceous Period clearly flowers and their insect pollinators. were an established part of the ecosystem.

The next drawing is of the Early Permian ecosytem.  Perhaps that was the first period of flowering plants.   You can see an Edaphosaurus feeding on flowers.   Yes there WERE quite possibly flowers then...according to the latest discovery....anyway, this Edaphosaurus is unaware that a Dimetrodon is sneaking up on her.  Both these large mammal-like reptiles are NOT dinosaurs.  Nor did they evolve into dinos.  The Dimentrodon just might be an ancestor to all modern mammals.  Di-metro-don means two length teeth.   Dimetrodon was the first animal to have canines, (canine teeth).   Both Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon had a sail that was proabably used for heating and cooling.  So they would probably turn perpendicular to the rising sun to warm up and parallel to the sun's rays to cool off in the midday breeze.  Edaphosaurus was an herbivore with a much smaller head than the predatory Dimetrodon.  Agian, these are NOT dinosaurs.  They are mammal-like reptiles. 

If you are wondering about the eye spots on the Edaphosaurs I drew, this is a possible adaptation for defense.  It makes the animal look bigger than they really are.  Some butterflies have eye spots on their wings.

Feel free to add insects like beetles flying around the flowers.  Beetles are known pollinators of the earliest flowers but they evolved later than the Permian or Triassic Periods.

Edaphosaurus feeding on Flowers

NOTE:  The printable versions of today's drawings are in "All Printables" (button above)
  and also the drawings are in "Paleontology" (button above)  The T. rex drawing is at the bottom of the list under Mesozoic Era and the Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon are under Paleozoic Era.