“This shouldn’t be here. … This species has been extinct since the Cretaceous period”, Paleobotanist, Ellie, in the movie “Jurassic Park” notes while studying a leaf she had just found. Imagine what she might have said had she just unearthed a flower fossil such as the one that has recently been found in Nanjing, that which also appears to date from the Jurassic period.
“这不应该在这里。 …这个物种自白垩纪以来就已经灭绝了，”古植物学家Ellie在电影《侏罗纪公园》中研究她刚刚发现的一片叶子时指出。 想象一下，如果她刚刚出土了像最近在南京发现的花化石，她可能会说什么，它似乎也可以追溯到侏罗纪时期。
To discover that dinosaurs might have had this very blossom in their vases effectively changes everything we know about the evolution of flowers. This landmark discovery has catapulted Nanjing scientists onto the paleobotany scene by way of pushing back the first appearance of flowering plants by 50 million years. It is no minor claim and one that the man who discovered the fossil himself, Associate Professor, Fu Qiang, passionately promotes to the world. The Nanjinger was invited to the Nanjing Institute of Palaeontology and Geology for an exclusive interview with Doctor Fu.
发现恐龙的花瓶里可能有这种花，有效地改变了我们对花的进化的了解。 这一具有里程碑意义的发现将开花植物的首次出现推迟了5000万年，将南京科学家推向了古植物学领域。 这不是小说法，是发现化石的人本人，副教授，傅强，热情地向世界宣传的。 这位南京人受邀到南京古生物和地质研究所接受傅博士的独家采访。
It was originally thought that plants were the creation of god. That was before scientists began devoting time and effort into the grouping of plants that revealed the natural order of the world. The classification of plants became the study of Botany and was first brought to life by the great naturalist, John Ray, in the 17th century.
最初认为植物是上帝的创造。 那是在科学家开始投入时间和精力进行植物分组之前，揭示了世界的自然秩序。 植物的分类成为植物学的研究，并在17世纪由伟大的博物学家约翰·雷首次提出。
The importance of Botany cannot be stressed enough; without it, we would not know which little black berry we can eat, or which can heal us or which can kill us, for example. Paleobotany is of arguably of matching importance, because to understand flowering plants that came before helps scientists to understand those of today.
植物学的重要性怎么强调都不为过；例如，如果没有它，我们就不知道我们可以吃哪些小黑莓，或者哪些可以治愈我们，或者哪些可以杀死我们。 古植物学可以说具有相当的重要性，因为了解之前的开花植物有助于科学家了解今天的开花植物。
In the eastern suburbs of Nanjing’s Qixia District, is Wugui mountain in Sheshan town (a 15-minute drive from the centre of Xianlin). Here, deep in the south Xiangshan rock formation was where Dr. Fu could be found everyday for 2 years, before he discovered his fossil in 2016. “I felt a little excited when I found it, because I’d been there so many times, I remember thinking to myself if this is what I think it is, then this is massively important. It was quite exciting”, Dr. Fu told The Nanjinger.
在南京七峡区的东郊，是佘山镇的五桂山（距离仙林市中心15分钟车程）。 在这里，在湘山南部的岩层深处，傅博士在2016年发现化石之前，每天都能找到傅博士两年。 “当我发现它时，我感到有点兴奋，因为我去过那里很多次，我记得我心想，如果这就是我所想的，那么这非常重要。 这相当令人兴奋，”傅博士告诉《南京人》。
The fossils of the flower that has been named “Nanjinganthus” are evidence of an actinomorphic flower with a dendroid style, cup-form receptacle, and angiospermy. This makes Nanjinganthus consistent with being a bona fide angiosperm from the Early Jurassic Period, an inference that scientists hope will re-invigorate research into angiosperm origins.
被命名为“南京anthus”的花的化石是具有水虫式、杯形容器和被子植物的放行性花的证据。 这使得南京anthus与侏罗纪早期的真正的被子植物相一致，科学家希望这一推断将重振对被子植物起源的研究。
There has been a long-standing botanical debate as to the origin of angiosperms, plants that have flowers and produce seeds enclosed within a carpel. It is believed the “Great diversity of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous makes the Jurassic a promising period in which to anticipate the origins of the angiosperms”, Fu, among others, revealed in a research article published in December, 2018.
关于被子植物的起源，长期以来一直有关于被子植物的植物学辩论，被子植物的花朵和种子被包裹在果皮中。 Fu等人在2018年12月发表的一篇研究文章中透露，人们相信“白垩纪早期被子植物的巨大多样性使侏罗纪成为预测被子植物起源的有希望的时期”。
Based on observations of 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers that are preserved on 34 slabs in various states and orientations, from the South Xiangshan Formation (Early Jurassic) of Qixia, Nanjing, China, the fossil flower, Nanjinganthus dendrostyla gen. et sp. nov. is described.
根据对中国南京七峡南湘山地层（早期侏罗纪）的198个单花的264个标本的观察，这些标本保存在34个不同状态和方向上，描述了化石花南京anthus dendrostyla gen. et sp. nov.
The latitude [where Nanjinganthus was found] is pretty high, these plants would have grown at the banks of the lake that flows west from the Yangtze River (although this also can still be argued) Fu informs us. “We don’t know what the base would have been, if I were to guess it would have been a small plant. Nor do we know yet if the flower had any uses (such as medicinal), there’s still a lot we don’t know about it, this plant doesn’t exist anymore, all we have to go by is the fossil”.
Fu告诉我们，纬度[发现南金花的地方]相当高，这些植物会生长在长江向西流的湖边（尽管这一点仍然可以争论）。 “如果我猜它是一家小植物，我们不知道基地会是什么。 我们还不知道这朵花是否有任何用途（如药用），关于它，我们仍然有很多不了解的地方，这种植物已经不存在了，我们不得不经过的只是化石。”
Fu’s excitement was short-lived. After his discovery made the news, not everyone shared the same opinion. In order to further verify his findings, Fu enlisted the help of colleague Wang Xin, who specialises in angiosperm research. He was the first person tasked with analysing the fossils through an electronic microscope. A further nine people were asked to come on board, including a Spanish and an Australian scientist.
Fu的兴奋是短暂的。 在他的发现成为新闻后，并非每个人都有相同的意见。 为了进一步验证他的发现，Fu寻求专门研究被子植物的同事Wang Xin的帮助。 他是第一个通过电子显微镜分析化石的人。 另有九人被要求加入，其中包括一名西班牙科学家和一名澳大利亚科学家。
After the fossil was discovered in February 2016, the journal article was completed in May of the same year, yet after efforts to have the article published on many of the world’s best nature journal’s, it was knocked back. “In September we tried to publish in UK Nature magazine but were rejected as they didn’t agree. In fact, we tried many top journals but they don’t approve of the claim”, said Fu.
化石于2016年2月被发现后，该期刊文章于同年5月完成，但在努力将该文章发表在许多世界上最好的自然期刊上后，该文章被退回了。 “9月，我们试图在英国《自然》杂志上发表，但被拒绝了，因为他们不同意。 事实上，我们尝试了许多顶级期刊，但他们不认可这一说法，”Fu说。
“Not everyone is on the same side with this finding, there are many people that do no believe this flower is as old as we’re saying it is. Even people in this very institute do not agree. But this is a good thing, as it promotes the process of scientific research. In science, findings must always be challenged and continued research is always needed, and that is what we are doing with Nanjinganthus”.
“不是每个人都站在这一发现的一边，有很多人不相信这朵花像我们说的那样古老。 即使是这个研究所的人也不同意。 但這是一件好事，因為它促進了科學研究的過程。 在科学领域，发现必须始终受到挑战，并且总是需要继续研究，这就是我们正在对南京anthus所做的。”
Although an incredible amount of paleobotany and microscopic equipment is needed to even begin to understand anything about Nanjinganthus, The Nanjinger was lucky enough to hold and touch one of around 300 pieces that have been excavated from the site. Even to the naked eye, some fossils make clear flower-like shapes, evident by the fully formed petals that have turned into carbon fossils.
虽然需要大量的古植物学和显微镜设备才能开始了解关于南京安特的任何东西，但《南京人》很幸运地握住并触摸了从现场挖掘出来的大约300块中的一块。 即使用肉眼看，一些化石也能形成清晰的花状形状，从完全形成的花瓣变成了碳化石可以看出。
In order to come to their conclusion regarding the age of the flower, the samples were processed through Heavy Liquid Separation and subsequent magnetic separation at Langfang Yuneng Rock Mineral Separation Technology Service Co., Ltd., in Langfang City that marks the halfway point between Beijing and Tianjin.
为了得出关于花龄的结论，样品在位于北京和天津的中点的廊坊市廊坊尤能岩石矿物分离技术有限公司通过重液分离和随后的磁分离进行了处理。
“It would be intriguing to figure out in future research whether Nanjinganthus represents a stem group; a group derived from more ancient ancestors, or an evolutionary dead end of polyphyletic angiosperms”, said Fu. “But it seems people are not willing to do more research on this for the time being, that’s why we need more [funding and research]”.
Fu说：“在未来的研究中，找出南京苣属是否代表一个茎群；一个源自更古老的祖先的群体，还是多系被子植物的进化死胡同，这将是有趣的。” “但人们似乎暂时不愿意对此做更多的研究，这就是为什么我们需要更多的[资金和研究]。”
The Nanjinganthus fossils were found at the South Xiangshan Formation, a quarry owned by the Xiaoyetian Cement Company Ltd. in the northeastern suburb of Nanjing. The fact that this area is still owned by a private company leasing the land to the Institute for research, shows little serious commitment by authorities to begin seriously sectioning it off and handing it over to researchers. “I don’t know when government funding came, but they have asked us to keep doing research on the flower fossils”, says Fu.
南京山茄化石是在南湘山地层发现的，湘山地层是南京东北郊区小冶田水泥有限公司拥有的采石场。 这个地区仍然由一家私人公司拥有，将土地出租给研究所，这一事实表明当局对开始认真划分土地并将其移交给研究人员的认真承诺不大。 Fu说：“我不知道政府资金是什么时候来的，但他们要求我们继续研究花化石。”
A German Naturalist came to China in the 1860s and declared the area prehistoric, so scientists knew where to look. Yet, it isn’t the only place in Jiangsu where flower fossils of this kind have been found. Fu noted that it may yet take quite some time before Nanjinganthus can truly blossom in the scientific community. “Liaoningguguo (Archaefructus liaoningensis) which is 125 million years old was found in Liaoning [Province] and is generally accepted these days, but it will take a long time before Nanjinganthus becomes more widely accepted as 50 million years older than it”.
一位德国博物学家在19世纪60年代来到中国，并宣布该地区是史前，所以科学家知道该去哪里寻找。 然而，这并不是江苏唯一发现此类花卉化石的地方。 Fu指出，南京anthus在科学界真正蓬勃发展可能需要相当長的时间。 “辽宁古国（Archaefructus liaoningensis）在辽宁[省]被发现，有1.25亿年的历史，如今被普遍接受，但南京安图需要很长时间才能被广泛接受为比它老5000万年。”
