It was previously widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the Late Carboniferous period, replacing the lycopsid rainforests of the tropical region, but more recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the ancestors of angiosperms during the Early Carboniferous.
When did gymnosperms first appear on Earth?
It was previously widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the late Carboniferous period, replacing the lycopsid rainforests of the tropical region, but more recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the ancestors of angiosperms during the latest Devonian.
What happened to gymnosperms during the Carboniferous period?
The radiation of gymnosperms during the Carboniferous appears to have resulted from a whole genome duplication event around 319 million years ago. Early characteristics of seed plants are evident in fossil progymnosperms of the late Devonian period around 383 million years ago.
What is the difference between angiosperm and gymnosperm seeds?
Gymnosperm. The non-encased condition of their seeds stands in contrast to the seeds and ovules of flowering plants ( angiosperms ), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, which are often modified to form cones, or solitary as in Yew, Torreya, Ginkgo.
How many species of gymnosperms are there?
Over 1000 living species of gymnosperm exist. It was previously widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the late Carboniferous period, replacing the lycopsid rainforests of the tropical region, but more recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the ancestors of angiosperms during the latest Devonian.
Are gymnosperms older than angiosperms?
Gymnosperms are older than angiosperms on the evolutionary scale. They are found far earlier in the fossil record than angiosperms.
Did angiosperms evolved before gymnosperms?
Angiosperms did not evolve from gymnosperms, but instead evolved in parallel with the gymnosperms; however, it is unclear as to what type of plant actually gave rise to angiosperms.
Did angiosperms evolve first?
The earliest plants generally accepted to be angiospermous are known from the Early Cretaceous Epoch (about 145 million to 100.5 million years ago), though angiosperm-like pollen discovered in 2013 in Switzerland dates to the Anisian Age of the Middle Triassic (about 247.2 million to 242 million years ago), suggesting ...
What came before gymnosperms?
Gymnosperms were preceded by progymnosperms, the first naked seed plants, which arose about 380 million years ago.
When did gymnosperms evolve?
about 319 million years agoThe gymnosperms originated about 319 million years ago, in the late Carboniferous.
What came first gymnosperms or bryophytes?
Both adaptations were required for the colonization of land begun by the bryophytes and their ancestors. Fossils place the earliest distinct seed plants at about 350 million years ago. The first reliable record of gymnosperms dates their appearance to the Pennsylvanian period, about 319 million years ago (Figure 1).
What order did plants evolve in?
The evolution of plants has resulted in a wide range of complexity, from the earliest algal mats, through multicellular marine and freshwater green algae, terrestrial bryophytes, lycopods and ferns, to the complex gymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering plants) of today.
When did angiosperm trees first appear?
We calculate molecular ages of the earliest flowering plant lineages using 22 fossil calibrations (101 genera, 40 families). Our results reveal the origin of angiosperms at the late Permian, ~275 million years ago.
What is the oldest flowering plant?
Detailed analyses of more than a thousand plant fossils suggest that Montsechia vidalii, a freshwater species identified over 100 years ago in Spain, may be the oldest flowering plant in the world, snatching the title from Archaefructus sinensis, discovered from 125 million year old fossils collected in the Chinese ...
What is the oldest plant group?
The earliest known vascular plants come from the Silurian period. Cooksonia is often regarded as the earliest known fossil of a vascular land plant, and dates from just 425 million years ago in the late Early Silurian. It was a small plant, only a few centimetres high.
What did gymnosperms evolve from?
Key Points. Seed ferns were the first seed plants, protecting their reproductive parts in structures called cupules. Seed ferns gave rise to the gymnosperms during the Paleozoic Era, about 390 million years ago.
How old are angiosperms?
Most dates, however, are between 180-140 million years ago, suggesting a Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous origin of flowering plants, predating the oldest unequivocal fossil angiosperms by about 45-5 million years.
Why are angiosperms more advanced than gymnosperms?
Introduction to Angiosperms Flowering plants are able to survive in a greater variety of habitats than gymnosperms. Flowering plants mature more quickly than gymnosperms, and produce greater numbers of seeds. The woody tissues of angiosperms are also more complex and specialized.
Which are evolved from progymnosperms?
The progymnosperms are an extinct group of woody, spore-bearing plants that is presumed to have evolved from the trimerophytes, and eventually gave rise to the gymnosperms, ancestral to acrogymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering plants).
How did gymnosperms evolve?
Key Points. Seed ferns were the first seed plants, protecting their reproductive parts in structures called cupules. Seed ferns gave rise to the gymnosperms during the Paleozoic Era, about 390 million years ago.
How old are angiosperms?
Most dates, however, are between 180-140 million years ago, suggesting a Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous origin of flowering plants, predating the oldest unequivocal fossil angiosperms by about 45-5 million years.
Overview
Diversity and origin
Over 1000 living species of gymnosperm exist. It was previously widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the Late Carboniferous period, replacing the lycopsid rainforests of the tropical region, but more recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the ancestors of angiosperms during the Early Carboniferous. The radiation of gymnosperms du…
Classification
A formal classification of the living gymnosperms is the "Acrogymnospermae", which form a monophyletic group within the spermatophytes. The wider "Gymnospermae" group includes extinct gymnosperms and is thought to be paraphyletic. The fossil record of gymnosperms includes many distinctive taxa that do not belong to the four modern groups, including seed-bearing trees that have a somewhat fern-like vegetative morphology (the so-called "seed ferns" or pteridosperms). …
Uses
Gymnosperms have major economic uses. Pine, fir, spruce, and cedar are all examples of conifers that are used for lumber, paper production, and resin. Some other common uses for gymnosperms are soap, varnish, nail polish, food, gum, and perfumes.
Life cycle
Gymnosperms, like all vascular plants, have a sporophyte-dominant life cycle, which means they spend most of their life cycle with diploid cells, while the gametophyte (gamete-bearing phase) is relatively short-lived. Like all seed plants, they are heterosporous, having two spore types, microspores (male) and megaspores (female) that are typically produced in pollen cones or ovulate co…
Genetics
The first published sequenced genome for any gymnosperm was the genome of Picea abies in 2013.
General bibliography
• Cantino, Philip D.; Doyle, James A.; Graham, Sean W.; Judd, Walter S.; Olmstead, Richard G.; Soltis, Douglas E.; Soltis, Pamela S.; Donoghue, Michael J. (August 2007). "Towards a phylogenetic nomenclature of Tracheophyta". Taxon. 56 (3): 822–846. doi:10.2307/25065864. JSTOR 25065864.
External links
• Gymnosperm Database
• Gymnosperms on the Tree of Life
• Albert Seward (1911). "Gymnosperms" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).