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Delicate and upturned, with curving petals arranged in threes, it looks like the subject of a Monet painting. In fact, it is what scientists believe the bloom of the last common ancestor of all living flowers looked like.

Flowering plants - or angiosperms - are thought to make up about 90% of all living land plants. There are more than 300,000 different species on the planet, from tiny forget-me-nots to glorious magnolias.

But while flowering plants are thought to have emerged between 140m and 250m years ago, there are no fossil flowers more than 130m years old, making it challenging to work out what the first flowers might have looked like.

"We almost know nothing about how flowers evolved since their origin and yet this is extremely important for their ecological role and the role that plants play today on Earth," said Hervé Sauquet, an evolutionary biologist and first author of the new study from Paris-Sud University.

The evolution of flowering plants also foxed Darwin, who described their sudden diversification as an "an abominable mystery".

But now Sauquet and an international team of researchers say they have unravelled an important piece of the puzzle - the structure of the ancestral flower.

Writing in the journal Nature Communications, the team describe how they constructed a family tree of flowering plants based on genetic data from 792 species, and mapped the structural characteristics of the plants' flowers.

They then explored the structure of flowers at each branching point on the family tree and traced back to explore what the blooms of the last common ancestor of all flowering plants would have looked like. The process was repeated using family trees produced using different methods to check whether the results held.

The upshot is a delicate-looking flower with rings of upturned petals. "This is what we infer to be the ancestral flower of all living flowering plants," said Sauquet.

Like most modern flowers, the ancestral flower has both male and female parts. Beverley Glover, professor of plant systematics and evolution at the University of Cambridge and who was not involved in the study, said the finding was exciting, since there is a species alive today that comes from an early branch on the angiosperm family tree, making it an ancient relative to all other flowering plants. However, this species, known as Amborella, has separate male and female flowers.

The study also reveals that the ancestral flower's stamens, petals and sepals - protective petal-like parts - were arranged not in spirals but concentric circles called whorls, with three petals or sepals in each.

That, says Sauquet, overturns a long held idea that such structures in early flowers had a spiral arrangement which gave way to the whorled configuration that is prevalent today. "I think many people are not going to believe us at first," he said.

The model also suggests the ancestral flower would have had three or four such whorls for each organ, although most living flowers today have fewer. "To get to the living flowers it is very simple; just get rid of some whorls," said Sauqet, adding that as only one whorl of sepals for protection and one of petals to attract pollinators is needed for a functional flower, having more might have been a waste of the plant's resources.

Furthermore, he said, a reduction in the number of whorls might have given rise to structural changes that made for more efficient pollination, for example by making it easier for pollinators such as bees to approach.

"Working out why this might have happened will keep us scratching our heads for some time," said Glover.

But not everyone was as enthusiastic about the study. William Crepet, a plant biologist at Cornell University, said that while he had some reservations about the model, the results were interesting and raise questions about the ancestry of the flowering plants.

Glover conceded that the team's findings were still only a set of predictions, but said the study incorporated swaths of data, making them the best yet.

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Mother of all blooms: is this what the last common ancestor of flowers looked like?

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Delicate and upturned, with curving petals arranged in threes, it looks like the subject of a Monet painting. In fact, it is what scientists believe the bloom of the last common ancestor of all living flowers looked like. Flowering plants - or angiosperms - are thought to make up about 90% of all living land plants.

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G20 summit shows ambition on climate and sustainability as need for action grows

Hamburg, GERMANY (17 July 2017) - As the G20 Leaders' Summit concludes, WWF urges the world's leading industrialized and emerging economies to deliver on their commitment toward ensuring sustainability and resilience for all. The ambition shared in the Leaders' Communiqué released today must be accompanied by concrete actions by G20 countries and governments to bend the curve of accelerating climate change, staggering biodiversity loss and unsustainable use of the planet's natural resources.

Today, unprecedented environmental pollution, climate change impacts, biodiversity declines, land degradation and water scarcity are pushing the planet to a tipping point. Collective action on issues such as Green Finance, climate policy, marine pollution and wildlife crime, as outlined in the final G20 declaration, is urgently needed to help prevent irreversible damage to global societies and economies and ensure stability and security in the world's most vulnerable regions.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF's global Climate & Energy Practice, said: "By accelerating progress under both the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the G20 group of nations can help move the sustainability agenda forward. Acknowledging the irreversible momentum set forth by the Paris climate deal, leaders have shown their determination to join countries and non-State actors worldwide in creating a global socio-economic transformation that will shape our national economies, people's well-being and prosperity for years to come.''

At the Summit, all G20 members, except the US, committed to ensuring full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, through cooperation on enhanced delivery of national climate contributions, delivering long-term plans by 2020 and with independent monitoring of the shifting of financial flows. Their pledge comes just weeks after US president Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the global climate agreement approved in December 2015.

"Implementing the Paris Agreement is in the interest of each nation. Effective climate strategies can help unlock new business and employment opportunities, renewable energy, health benefits, and a sustainable future for all. As G20 leaders join cities, companies and individuals around the globe in committing toward a climate-safe future, it must be crystal clear that there is no place for fossil fuels in this scenario. We can be stronger together for climate but we need to translate ambition into action now," said Pulgar-Vidal.

In addition to climate change, leaders at the G20 summit also discussed opportunities and challenges linked to Green Finance and its role in shifting financial flows worldwide toward greater sustainability by taking climate and environmental risks into account.

The forum also looked at the important link between wildlife crime and corruption for the first time, with a G20 Action Plan specifically highlighting the profound economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts of illegal wildlife trade.

Margaret Kinnaird, leader of WWF's global Wildlife Practice, said: "Wildlife crime not only threatens our planet's incredible wildlife but it is also harming the lives, livelihoods and human rights of local communities who have depended on their surrounding resources and ecosystems for centuries. We urge Argentina as the next G20 president to build on the legacy of Germany's outgoing presidency and make wildlife crime a priority to help stave off global biodiversity loss and promote sustainable use of natural resources."

Moving forward, WWF also urges the upcoming Presidency to continue the group's focus on marine pollution, calling for the definition of timeframes and responsibilities under the Action Plan on Marine Litter and concrete measures such as the development, funding and knowledge-sharing of national legal frameworks facilitating better integrated waste management systems through extended producer responsibility and sustainable financing.

On 1 December 2017, Argentina will take over the G20 Presidency and organize the G20 summit in 2018. It will be the second G20 summit to be held in Latin America.

For further information, contact Mandy Jean Woods mwoods@wwfint.org or Rucha Nawara rnawara@wwfint.org.

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G20 summit shows ambition on climate and sustainability as need for action grows

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Hamburg, GERMANY (17 July 2017) - As the G20 Leaders' Summit concludes, WWF urges the world's leading industrialized and emerging economies to deliver on their commitment toward ensuring sustainability and resilience for all. The ambition shared in the Leaders' Communiqué released today must be a

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The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it will use its authority to bypass environmental laws and other regulations to "ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads" near the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego.

"The sector remains an area of high illegal entry for which there is an immediate need to improve current infrastructure and construct additional border barriers and roads," the agency said in a statement. "To begin to meet the need for additional border infrastructure in this area, DHS will implement various border infrastructure projects."

The waiver, which focuses on 15 miles of contiguous land stretching eastward from the Pacific Ocean, would make it easier for the agency to embark on those "infrastructure projects" - which include building several prototypes of the border wall President Trump called for in a January executive action. The agency also plans to replace some sections of the fence that currently stands in the area.

As Reuters notes, the waiver exempts the agency from having to complete the environmental impact study required by law before it builds on public lands.

"Last fiscal year 2016, Customs and Border Patrol apprehended more than 31,000 illegal aliens and seized about 1,300 pounds of cocaine just in the San Diego sector alone," Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan tells NPR's Eric Westervelt.

Lapan also says its not the first time the agency has used such a waiver, noting the Department of Homeland Security under former Secretary Michael Chertoff invoked it five times.

Nevertheless, the move is likely to anger environmental activists, who have already lodged significant protests against Trump's proposed border wall project.

Member station KPBS points out that the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity already sued the federal government last month for failing "to prepare and publish legally required environmental impact analyses for the border wall."

"The proposed construction of the replacement border wall in San Diego, like many areas along the border lands, has a high concentration of endangered species," Brian Segee, the group's senior attorney, tells NPR. "There are a lot of impacts that can occur to the environment - especially in the absence of prior environmental studies."

"And that's exactly what these waivers do," Segee adds. "They create a lawless situation whereby DHS and CPB will undertake this massive boondoggle of a border wall project, and they will do it without the benefit of key environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act - the list goes on and on."

Still, DHS plans to forge ahead ... on the replacement fencing, at least.

Lapan says building on the prototypes has been delayed by another set of protests - this time lodged against the department by some of the contractors whose bids were not selected. He expects now that work on the prototypes themselves might get underway as late as November.

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Homeland Security To Waive Environmental Rules On Border Wall Projects

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The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it will use its authority to bypass environmental laws and other regulations to "ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads" near the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego.

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Weighing in at only two pounds and measuring less than a foot long is one of the most unique new shark species to be recently identified by scientists.

While the shark can be easily recognized by its huge nose leading into its small body, the most defining characteristic of this species may be that it glows in the dark.

Deemed Etmopterus lailae by scientists,the shark belongs to the lanternshark family and was found nearly 1,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii's northwestern islands.

Stephen M. Kajiura, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, was one of the researchers who worked to identify the shark when it was discovered almost 17 years ago.

"There are only about 450 known species of sharks worldwide and you don't come across a new species all that often. A large part of biodiversity is still unknown, so for us to stumble upon a tiny, new species of shark in a gigantic ocean is really thrilling," Kajiura said in a university press release.

Identifying a new species can be so difficult that researchers did not initially realize they had found a new type of shark until they submitted their findings for journal review and received responses noting it did not easily fit into existing lanternshark classifications. To discern whether it was in fact a unique species, Kajiura and researchers from Florida International University and the University of Rhode Island took extensive measurements of the shark's teeth, vertebrae, and intestines noting consistent markings on its tale that distinguished it from other species.

They then confirmed the differences by comparing their findings with specimens in research institutions across the globe. Initial findings were published in the journal Zootaxalast February before the news was widely circulated by the corresponding researchers' institutions this month.

"The unique features and characteristics of this new species really sets it apart from the other lanternsharks," Kajiura added in the press release.

The shark's physical characteristics evolved from its deep-sea environment. Because little light is able to penetrate the deep sea, the shark relies less on sight to find food and more on the large olfactory system housed in its unusually large snout.

Researchers have several theories for why the shark's belly is bioluminescent, ranging from ensuring the shark is mating with the right species to attracting the small fish and shrimp on which it feeds. One deep sea survey published in March suggested that as many as 75 percent of deep sea creatures may be bioluminescent. ( See how sharks use biofluorescence in the deep sea.)

Despite covering more than 70 percent of Earth, much of the ocean remains yet to be explored. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that 95 percent of the world's oceans have not been seen by human eyes.

In June, an Australian research vessel set out on a month-long voyage to explore and take specimens from the deep seas surrounding the continent. Among their findings were a nightmarish, toothy lizard, and a 'faceless' fish.

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New Miniature Shark Species Glows In the Dark

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Weighing in at only two pounds and measuring less than a foot long is one of the most unique new shark species to be recently identified by scientists. While the shark can be easily recognized by its huge nose leading into its small body, the most defining characteristic of this species may be that it glows in the dark.

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Elephants in Malawi relocated as part of conservation project - BBC News

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Rangers in Malawi take on the mammoth task of moving hundreds of elephants into safer national parks.