Comment on Leaves have evolved at least twice 🤔

• Klear@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

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• TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Somewhat, but keep in mind, its a half decade of study to develop the understanding. Also, trying to create parallels between how plants do sex and how animals do sex, thats going to throw you off. Plants do sex in a fundamentally different way than how animals do sex.

  The basic trajectory in the evolution of land plants has between towards additional layers around the gametophytic generation, and additional investment in that generation. Animals, like us, have a unicellular gametic generation (sperm and eggs). Plants, well, its complicated… Basically, when plants first came onto land, the haploid, gametic generation was the “big obvious plant” thing, but that switched at a certain point.

  PLANT EVOLUTIONARY TIMELINE FOR SEED COMPONENTS
  
  | MYA   | Evolutionary Step                 | Seed Component         | Definition                                                      | Dominant Plant Body |
  |-------|----------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
  | ~470  | Earliest land plants              | —                      | Non-vascular; liverwort-like                                     | N (haploid)          |
  | ~430  | Vascular tissue appears           | —                      | Enables upright growth, fluid transport                          | 2N (diploid)         |
  | ~420  | Sporangia                         | Megasporangium begins  | Spore-producing structures (seen in Rhyniophytes, Lycophytes)    | 2N                   |
  | ~410  | Heterospory                       | Functional megaspore   | Plants make large (mega) and small (micro) spores                | 2N                   |
  | ~385  | Runcaria                          | Integument precursor   | Fossil shows integumented megasporangium, no fertilization yet   | 2N                   |
  | ~365  | Seed ferns (Pteridosperms)       | Ovule (true seed)      | Integumented, indehiscent megasporangium with 1 megaspore        | 2N                   |
  | ~360  | Early gymnosperms                | Full seed              | Retained embryo + full protective tissue                         | 2N                   |
  | ~320  | Gymnosperm radiation             | —                      | Conifers, cycads diversify                                       | 2N                   |
  | ~140  | Angiosperms (flowering plants)   | —                      | Double fertilization, fruit, enclosed ovules                     | 2N                   |
  
  

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