In what scientists described as a "great discovery", Chinese paleobotanists have found fossils of a plant from the mid-Jurassic period, or more than 164 million years ago, in the southeast corner of Inner Mongolia.

The plant - likely to be the world's earliest herbaceous angiosperm plant - was discovered by a team of paleobotanists led by professor Han Gang of the paleontological center of Bohai University in Liaoning Province.

Like Us on Facebook

The discovery was published on the latest English edition of Acta Geologica Sinica, an academic publication owned and published by the Geological Society of China.

The fossil of the plant, identified as Juraherba bodae, measures less than four centimeters tall and comes complete with root, stem, leaves and fruit that were preserved well.

"The occurrence of fructifications implies that the plant is already mature. The small size of this mature plant indicates that Juraherba is a herbaceous seed plant, most likely an angiosperm. The seeds enclosed in the fructifications further confirm angiospermous affinity," Han was quoted in the publication as saying.

Most botanists in the West believe angiosperms originated from the early Cretaceous period, or about 125 million years ago, but the discovery of Juraherba bodae can be traced 40 million years earlier.

The origins and early evolution of Angiosperms, however, remain a mystery and the discovery of the 164-million-year-old fossil is expected to challenge the view that woody plants are ancestral to angiosperms.

The article published on the English edition fo Acta Geologica Sinica was co-authored by a number of Chinese paleobotanists, including Liu Xueling of Bohai University and Liu Zhongjian of the National Orchid Conservation Center.

TagsChina Fossil, China Archaeology