Question
Question: How did gymnosperms evolve?...
How did gymnosperms evolve?
Solution
Gymnosperms dominated the landscape during the Mesozoic era's early (Triassic) and middle (Jurassic). Angiosperms surpassed gymnosperms in the late Mesozoic epoch around the middle of the Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago), and are now the most abundant plant group in most terrestrial biomes.
Complete answer:
The gymnosperms are thought to have formed around 319 million years ago; they are the first seed plants to have evolved, with the oldest seed-like entities discovered in the Upper Devonian era (its rocks). Cupules, which are reproductive structures, were discovered guarding them.
They include ecosystem-dwelling conifers and ginkgos, which were adapted to cold environments. True seed plants thrived and diversified over time during the Carboniferous epoch. These seed ferns produced seed and branch structures that were unique. During fertilisation, the cupules shielded the ovule. Elkinsia polymorpha is thought to be the world's first seed plant.
Elkinsia polymorpha, a “seed fern” from the Devonian period (approximately 400 million years ago), is thought to be the world's oldest seed plant. Seed ferns do not have specialised structures and produce their seeds along their branches. They developed cupules to contain and preserve the ovule (female gametophyte and accompanying tissues), which develop into a seed after fertilisation, making them the first genuine seed plants. In the Carboniferous period's coal swamps, seed plants resembling current tree ferns became increasingly widespread and diversified. This appears to have occurred roughly 319 million years ago as a result of a full genome duplication event.
The first gymnosperms are thought to have appeared in the Paleozoic era, some 390 million years ago, during the middle Devonian period. The Permian epoch was arid after the wet Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods, which were dominated by enormous fern trees. Seed plants, which are more adapted to tolerate dry times, gained a reproductive advantage as a result. The earliest gymnosperms to arise during the lower Jurassic were the Ginkgoales, a group of gymnosperms with only one surviving species, Ginkgo biloba. Gymnosperms dominated the environment during the Mesozoic era (240 million years ago), displacing ferns and reaching their maximum diversity.
Pollination of some extinct gymnosperm groups was thought to be accomplished by extinct scorpionflies with a specialised proboscis for feeding on pollination drops during the mid-Mesozoic epoch. Long before the analogous and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding insects on angiosperms, scorpionflies undoubtedly engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms.
The Jurassic epoch was dominated by cycads (palm-tree-like gymnosperms), as well as dinosaurs. The area was also speckled with ginkgoales and the more common conifers. Despite the fact that angiosperms (flowering plants) are the most common type of plant in most biomes, circumstances.
Pollination of some extinct gymnosperm groups was thought to be accomplished by extinct scorpionflies with a specialised proboscis for feeding on pollination drops during the mid-Mesozoic epoch. Long before the analogous and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding insects on angiosperms, scorpionflies undoubtedly engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms.
gymnosperms still dominate some ecosystems, such as the taiga (boreal forests) and the alpine forests at higher mountain elevations because of their adaptation to cold and dry growth conditions.
Note:
During the Devonian period, a group of plants known as progymnosperms began producing two types of spores: male and female spores, which included live tissues that produced eggs and sperm. These seed ferns eventually developed into seed plants. The three primary parts of a seed are the embryo, endosperm, and seed coat.