Leaves from the Permian period curled up at night, fossils of symmetrical insect bites show.
Each night at sunset, a handful of plants"fall asleep." Species as diverse as legumes and daisies curl up their leaves and petals for the evening and do not unfurl until morning.
"Since it is impossible to tell whether a folded leaf found in the fossil record was closed because it experienced sleeping behavior or because it shriveled and bent after death, we looked for insect damage patterns that are unique to plants with nyctinastic behavior," study co-author Stephen McLoughlin , curator of Paleozoic and Mesozoic plants fossil collections at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, said in a statement .
Scientists aren't sure why some plants close up shop for the night. Various studies have proposed that the behavior may play a role in temperature regulation or drain excess water from the leaf's surface. One intriguing possibility is that nyctinasty is the plant's way of fighting back against insects — curling up tightly to provide less cover for whatever feeds on them, thereby ensuring that offending insects remain in plain view of predators.
Related stories—Some carnivorous plants evolved to eat poop instead of bugs. And they're better off for it.—Plant leaves spark with electricity during thunderstorms — and that could be altering our air quality in unpredictable ways
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