Charles Darwin called it an "abominable mystery," but a new study has solved the question of how flowering plants evolved. The answer: While busy implementing a new hydraulic system in plants, evolution accidently stumbled on improved photosynthesis as well. You see it just so happens that the two are linked. Improve one, and serendipitously the other improves as well. That's fortunate. As ScienceDaily explains:
Using measurements of leaf vein density and a linked hydraulic-photosynthesis model, Brodribb and Field reconstructed the evolution of leaf hydraulic capacity in seed plants. Their results revealed that an evolutionary transformation in the plumbing of angiosperm leaves pushed photosynthetic capacity to new heights.
But of course, a linked hydraulic-photosynthesis model was the key. Using it the evolutionists discovered that the new plumbing "pushed photosynthetic capacity to new heights." I'm sure the evolutionists were surprised to find their results would uncover, of all things, evolution. As the report explains:
adaptations that increase water transport will enhance maximum photosynthesis, exerting substantial evolutionary leverage over competing species.
There you have it. In a word, evolution happens. And as usual evolutionists fill in the details with hard science:
The evolution of dense leaf venation in flowering plants, around 140-100 million years ago, was an event with profound significance for the continued evolution of flowering plants. This step provided a "cretaceous productivity stimulus package" which reverberated across the biosphere and led to these plants playing the fundamental role in the biological and atmospheric functions of the earth.
No wonder evolution is a fact.
