The baobab tree is a distinctive sight on the landscape. When its contorted branches are leafless during the dry season, they resemble jumbled roots emanating from a thick trunk, making it appear as if someone had yanked the tree from the ground, flipped it on its head and jammed it back into the earth.
Hence one of its nicknames: the "upside down tree." But the origins and history of the baobab - found in Madagascar and parts of Africa and Australia - have been something of a mystery. A new study resolves this, based on genomic analyses of all eight recognized species as well as ecological and geological data, so the baobab's story can finally be told.
The baobab lineage originated in Madagascar roughly 21 million years ago and reached Africa and Australia sometime in the past 12 million years, the researchers found. Madagascar, an island off Africa's southeastern coast, is a biodiversity hot spot and home to an assemblage of unusual flora and fauna.
