Extinct Wildflower Found In California

Del writes "A Berkeley graduate student found the pink wildflower Eriogonom truncatum, known as the Mount Diablo buckwheat. The flower hasn't been seen for 70 years and has been rediscovered on the flanks of Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County."

"Extinct"

[gowen]

You keep using that word, and I don't think it means what you think it does. This flower is self-evidently not extinct.

Clue : the phrase you're looking for is "Wildflower previously thought extinct".

Re:Was it rediscovered OR did it re-evolve?

[juju2112]

It's only been 70 years. Evolution does not work that fast.

Re:Was it rediscovered OR did it re-evolve?

[Matt Edd]

Here's some evolution for you... blah blah

That is not evolution. That is adaptation.

Re:Whoa!

[kfg]

I'd say thats a bigger discovery.. a fly that looks like a bee!

A bit late for that:

Bee Fly [geocities.com]

You can tell it looks like a bee because it's fat and fuzzy, unlike the insect in the flower picture, but here's one that looks like a wasp:

Wasp Fly [crosspaths.net]

Sorry, but science has already been there and done that.

KFG

Re:I don't see the problem with extinctions.

[ElAurian]

The problem is, we usually don't know which species are the important ones until they are gone.

And who'd have thought that you could find disease cures or amazingly advanced painkillers in rainforest plants?

Biodiversity is one of the most valuable resources humans have, and we're burning it. Like burning the library of Alexandria, but a thousand times worse.

Re:Was it rediscovered OR did it re-evolve?

[NeoSkandranon]

Adaptation is a change in behavior.

Evolution is a chage of genetics.

With the example of your birds, think: Do baby birds get born with the advantage? If no, it's adaptation (And they are certainly not born knowing lawnmowers = food. That is learned behavior)

Re:He found a *flower*

[Timothy Chu]

Agreed...but jumping spiders are probably a bit too agile and quick to be kept in a container even such as an aquarium. Perhaps if you were keeping them only for a few days for observation, then maybe, but for longer than that, I'd suggest any of the funnel weaving species (or the wolf spiders you mention) that you'd find in your basement first. They're already aclimatized to your indoor temperature, and they're used to living long periods without food.

Orb weavers (the spiral web weavers) are best kept outdoors, but they tend to have fairly permanent homes that you can feed and observe every day in the same spot.