Episode 255 – Plant Origins

Listen to Episode 255 on Podbean, YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Here on our lovely blue-green planet, the green is plants! This episode, we discuss the beginnings of all this green, the details and mysteries of Plant Origins.

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Pioneering Plants

True plants, or land plants, emerged from the oceans during the Early Paleozoic Era, alongside the earliest land animals and fungi. Plant spores are known at least as far back as the Ordovician Period, while recognizable macrofossils (large remains) are known from the Silurian Period. These earliest plants were very small and similar to modern mosses and liverworts.

The transition to land was bolstered by several key plant adaptations. Roots allowed plants to anchor securely into the ground while also absorbing nutrients; leaves developed as solar panels and gas exchange organs, while also developing cuticles to protect them from aerial dangers; and a new vascular system allowed the transport of water and nutrients between leaves and roots, even as plants grew taller.

Eventually, the advent of wood allowed plants to grow very large while remaining sturdy, giving rise to true trees. And the evolution of seeds gave plants the ability to reproduce even far away from sources of water.

Learn More

The late Precambrian greening of the Earth (technical, paywall)
Origin and Radiation of the Earliest Vascular Land Plants (technical, paywall)

The impacts of land plant evolution on Earth’s climate and oxygenation state (technical, open access)
Xyloglucan evolution and the terrestrialization of green plants (technical, open access)

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If you enjoyed this topic and want more like it, check out these related episodes:

• Episode 65 – The Late Devonian Extinction(s)
• Episode 73 – Trees
• Episode 77 – Fins to Feet: the Fish-Tetrapod Transition
• Episode 135 – Seeds
• Episode 145 – Photosynthesis
• Episode 195 – Leaves
• Episode 215 – Ferns

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