Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, cycads dominated plant life. Cycads are gymnosperms that are characterized by “naked” seeds, often in cones. Modern examples are conifers and Ginkgo, which are pollinated by the wind. Later in geologic time flowering plants (angiosperms) dominated; they are mostly pollinated by flying insects such as bees and butterflies. Interestingly cycads are pollinated typically by beetles. Today there are more than 380,000 named species of beetles constituting almost 25% of known life forms on our planet. A relatively small family of beetles, the Broganiidae, is characterized by large mouthparts that are specialized for pollination. Today broganiids are found in nature only in the Southern hemisphere, leading to the suggestion that they evolved before the eventual breakup of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana about 167 million years ago to form our continents.
