A recent study of the oldest grape seed fossil shows that grapes spread worldwide after dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago.
The findings of a research published in the journal Nature Plants are based on the study of the oldest grape seed fossil discovered in 2022 by Fabiány Herrera during field research in Colombia.
The study of this ancient fossil (the oldest known grape seed) has determined its precise location and probable time.
Researchers have pinpointed its precise location in India and its probable time 66 million years ago.
Researchers have also found that the vegetation cover, including shrubs like grapes and other plants growing by climbing, expanded after the extinction of dinosaurs.
The Independent cited Fabiány Herrera, a curator at the Chicago Field Museum: “The extinction event [of dinosaurs] had a significant impact on plants. The forest somehow reorganized itself, altering this plant composition.”
Scientists also believe that dinosaurs, due to their immense size, would break trees and make forests more open and smooth, which would not allow plants like grapes to thrive.
The probable time of the discovery of grape seed fossils 66 million years ago indicates that it was precisely when a massive asteroid collided with Earth, and dinosaurs became extinct.
Other grape seeds have been found in precise locations in Colombia, Panama, and Peru, indicating a probable time of 60 to 19 million years ago.
Regarding how grapes spread worldwide, it is noted that the extinction of dinosaurs also affected bird diversity and life, leading to the spread of this plant globally.
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