Context

• Alpine plants in southwest China’s Hengduan mountain range could be nearly 30 million years old, the oldest alpine flora anywhere in the world.

Key Details

• Researchers compared the tectonic and climatological history of the mountain region to understand the biological processes that have led to the development of life in the alpine region.
• They found that alpine flora emerged in the mountain range by the early Oligocene, which is a geological epoch that extends 34 million years before the present.
• The team found that a mix of tectonic activity, climate change and colonisation shaped the rich alpine flora of Hengduan.

Source: Down to Earth