Ancient genome duplications are widespread throughout eukaryotic lineages, particularly in plants. Studies suggest that the common ancestor of Poaceae, the grass family which includes important crop species such as maize, rice, wheat, and sugar cane, shared a whole genome duplication about . In more ancient monocot lineages one or likely multiple rounds of additional whole genome duplications had occurred, which were however not shared with the ancestral eudicots. Further independent more recent whole genome duplications have occurred in the lineages leading to maize, sugar cane and wheat, but not rice, sorghum or foxtail millet.