No evidence for angiosperm mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary

The Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event (K-Pg) witnessed up to 75% of animal species going extinct, most notably among these are the non-avian dinosaurs. A major question in macroevolution is whether this extinction event influenced the rise of flowering plants (angiosperms). The fossil record suggests that the K-Pg event had a minor impact on the extinction rates of angiosperm lineages, yet the diversification of extant angiosperms was delayed and started after the K-Pg boundary. However, phylogenetic evidence for angiosperm extinction dynamics remains unexplored. Through the analyses of two angiosperm mega-phylogenies containing ~32,000-74,000 extant species, here we show relatively constant extinction rates throughout geological time and no evidence for a mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary. Despite uncertainty of earliest angiosperm branching times, their staggering diversity, and complex evolutionary dynamics, our preliminary analyses provide congruent results with the fossil record and support the macroevolutionary resilience of angiosperms to the K-Pg mass extinction.