The Secret Night-Life of “Living Fossil” Plants
3 min readNew DelhiMar 11, 2026 12:00 AM IST The plant kingdom is utterly fascinating and still has a lot to be discovered. From plants that can attack animals to those that give electric shocks, these botanicals are far from fully understood. One such plant species that has created waves in the botanical community is cycads. These ancient plants can raise their own temperature, like a microwave oven. How cool is that! While the reason for this strange behaviour was previously unknown, it has now been uncovered that they do so to attract insects for pollination. As these plants heat themselves up, an invisible signal is released that helps insects find them in the dark. Interestingly, cycads have existed on Earth since the time of dinosaurs and are often described as “living fossils.” Unlike modern flowering plants that depend on bees or butterflies, cycads are mainly pollinated by beetles. Since beetles are small, nocturnal, and live in dense rainforests, where spotting plants is not easy, this unique heating mechanism comes in handy. Long before insects evolved, cycads …
