The Power of Flowers

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Description

What did flowering plants have to do with the evolution of primates and other mammals? In this program, geologist Iain Stewart travels to New Caledonia to discuss what made the first blooms so revolutionary, why they were able to thrive on the new continents birthed from Pangaea, and how the development of special traits helped flowers to recolonize Earth after a disastrous asteroid impact. In addition, an ultraviolet-spectrum camera reveals flowers the way insects see them, and Stewart explains the coevolution of insects, seeds, and pollination, and what the development of fruit meant for the optical abilities of the earliest primates.