A metacalibrated time‐tree documents the early rise of flowering plant phylogenetic diversity

The establishment of modern terrestrial life is indissociable from angiosperm evolution. While available molecular clock estimates of angiosperm age range from the Paleozoic to the Late Cretaceous, the fossil record is consistent with angiosperm diversification in the Early Cretaceous. The time-frame of angiosperm evolution is here estimated using a sample representing 87% of families and sequences of five plastid and nuclear markers,...