New group of plants was one of the first to colonize the land

A group of plants that were among the first to move onto land were found in minute fossils.

The eophytes offer a glimpse of the early evolution of life on land, and may be related to the ancestors of the plants that followed.

Plants that are two centimeters long can show what the ancestors looked like.

A new group of plants were identified from remains that have been preserved as charcoal. It is possible that they are related to the ancestors of all plants, but it is difficult to confirm because of their fragile nature.

The nature of the first land flora is an enduring mystery where the principal players have never been seen in their entirety, yet much can be inferred from what they have left behind.

The scientists hope that their research in the journal New Phytologist will inspire others to hunt for other eophyte fossils and uncover more about the earliest days of terrestrial life.

How did plants change?

When and how the ancestors of modern plants first adapted to life on land remains a mystery. The ancestors of modern flora are thought to have moved onto land between 450 and 500 million years ago.

The exact plant they came from remained a mystery, but one way of answering these questions is through the enigmatic fossilized remains of plant reproductive structures.

There are several ways that you can look at the fossils of plants, according to Dr. Paul Kenrick, an expert on fossilized plants at the Museum and co-author of this latest study. One of the things to look at is the number of plants that produce the spores and pollen.

The crypts were around 470 million years old before disappearing 70 million years later. We didn't know which plant produced them because they are very distinct.

Fossilizing early plants is difficult as they lack robust tissues which can be preserved over time. For delicate plants and tissues, charcoal is an important medium.

The plants were caught in some of the earliest fires. The problem with charcoal is that it is very fragile, so we have incomplete remains.

There are some hints to the origin of the crypts provided by previous studies of these fossils. Fragments recovered from the sultanate suggest that they formed in the same place as modern plants.

The fossils found in Wales suggest that the plants that produced them could be a sister group to the vascular plants, which include trees, flowering plants and cacti.

The group of plants which produced the eophytes have been named after the fossils in charcoal that were from between 410 and 419 million years ago.

Excavating the plants.

Modern plants are very different from the eophytes. They are small, measuring around two centimeters at their maximum length.

Around 80% of the carbon in plants is locked up.

The eophytes are very small. One of the reasons that plants have been overlooked is that they could be millimeters in size.

The mosses are not examples of the modern world, but they share some characteristics. The first plants which came on land were very simple and small compared to their modern relatives.

They would have been unable to control the flow of water in and out of their bodies because they were so large.

One of the important things with modern plants is that they are generally Homohydric, which means that they can regulate their water to a great degree.

Plants probably became resistant to drying out on land first before being able to control their surroundings, rather than having already been able to regulate water.

The eophytes seem to be able to move food around their body using specialized structures known as food conducting cells. Modern mosses have similar structures.

The FCCs and the phloem of plants are similar. It is thought that the FCCs were an early step in the development of a complex vascular system, which would allow plants to grow larger and more varied.

The researchers want to know more about how these plants lived, such as the reproductive phase. Returning to sites which have already been explored will be required in order to do this.

The plants are forcing us to change what we look for in the fossil record.

The Rhynie Chert is one of the sites where you can find more information about the lifecycle of plants.

More information: Dianne Edwards et al, Piecing together the eophytes – a new group of ancient plants containing cryptospores, New Phytologist (2021). DOI: 10.1111/nph.17703 Journal information: New Phytologist Citation: New group of plants was one of the first to colonize the land (2022, February 18) retrieved 18 February 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-02-group-colonize.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.