Super-continental plant evidence found

The ancestors of cypress trees were once grown on Pangea supercontinent, and witnessed the disintegration of this continent to become the continental system as they are today.

More than 200 million years ago, Pangea contained the entire modern continent before breaking down into small parts and following different evolutionary paths today.

Scientists have found evidence of supercontinent decay in the development history of many reptiles, amphibians and mammals.

Pangea supercontinent before disintegrating - ( Photo: Wikipedia)

'Until recently, there was no similar evidence in any plant family ,' reported the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

By studying the change in the DNA of 122 cypress family species, international scientists can rebuild their evolution, according to research leader Kangshan Mao at Lanzhou University ( China).

The team discovered the cypress family, scientific name Cupressaceae , thought to have originated more than 200 million years ago, when Pangea was still a unified bloc.

Cypress family is present on all continents except Antarctica.