A major group of flowering plants that are still around today, emerged 150 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study published today in Trends in Plant Science. This means flowering plants were around some 50 million years before the dinosaurs.

The plants in question are known as the buckthorn family or Rhamnaceae, a group of trees, shrubs and vines found worldwide. The finding comes from subjecting data on 100-million-year old flowers to powerful molecular clock techniques—as a result, we now know Rhamnaceae arose more than 250 million years ago.

— Read more in A new discovery shows major flowering plants are 150 million years older than previously thought at Phys.org. Hat tip to Jalapeno!