The orchid family is one of the most diverse on the planet, with about 29,500 known species, and is admired, both within and outside the world of science, for being present in virtually every type of habitat, including above the Arctic Circle.
Until now, scientific consensus had suggested that orchids originated 90 million years ago or more, in the supercontinent known as Gondwana, which was located where Australia is today. However, the evolutionary history of orchids may be different.
A team of dozens of scientists suggests that this plant family arose about 85 million years ago in Laurasia, the other supercontinent that would encompass the regions that are today in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth.
In a article published in the journal ‘New Phytologist’, these researchers say they have produced the most complete reconstruction to date of the evolutionary history of the Orchidaceae family, which includes 40% of all orchid genera recognized by the scientific community, as well as about 7% of all known species.
Through this refinement work on the ‘tree of life’ of orchids, the result of decades of scientific investigation, the authors aim to contribute not only to knowledge about these species but to their conservation. Although orchids are one of the flowering plant families with the greatest number of species, they are also among the most threatened.
Deforestation, illegal trade, and the effects of climate change are among the main factors causing reductions in populations or in their distribution range, or even local extinctions.
According to a 2023 report on the status of plants and fungi worldwide, prepared by the experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (United Kingdom), it is estimated that 56% of all orchid species face some level of threat.
“Orchids are not only extraordinary jewels of nature,” notes in a statement Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and one of the principal authors of the article. “They also guard the mysteries of life on Earth: how species evolve, adapt and disperse,” he adds, recalling that “safeguarding their future is essential to protecting the complex interactions that [orchids] play in ecosystems.”
This work, say its authors, is only a first step in a pursuit in which the ultimate goal will be the recreation of the evolutionary history of orchids covering all known genera, so as to be able to glimpse a true ‘tree of life’ for this group of flowering plants that emerged and proliferated in the time when dinosaurs, such as the T. rex, were the animals ruling the planet.
