Most importantly, the fossils that are preserved in marine, as well as lowland sediments, demonstrate the evolutionary history of plants. While certain fossils protect the external plant parts’ form, others demonstrate cellular features. Also, others comprise microfossils, including pollen along with spores. In other cases, though rare, fossils could show the chemical or ultrastructural plant’s features that they represent (Rothwell & Lambers, 2020). In essence, the fossil records indicate a pattern of the rate of evolution that is accelerated in conjunction with an increasing diversity together with the complexity of biological communities which took place with land’s invasion coupled with the progressive continents’ colonization. Currently, the land plant’s fossil evidence could be dated back to the Ordovician Period, which was approximately 485 to 443 million years ago.
It is worth noting that the vascular plants represent the most diverse as well as conspicuous plant members. Among these, the dominant of the plant’s life history is the sporophyte phase. Notably, the vascular plant’s fossil remains offer considerable evidence of the changes in evolution in the structure of the body of the plant in diverse forms of the plants, in the life history’s complexity, in systematic diversity along with the ecological conditions tolerance. Generally, nonvascular plants are less diverse as well as less smaller in contrast to vascular plants (Rothwell & Lambers, 2020). Liverworts that occurred in rocks were seen in the course of the Ordovician Period while the earlies moss fossils were seen in the Permian Period. Salt (2019) claims that the evolution of plants has risen in diversity over a short period as currently the land plants are the most species-rich group. As life continues being complex, it leads to the creation of new niches for other life to occupy and inhabit.
What might be some beneficiary evolutionary changes that we can observe in plants?
Importantly, seeds’ evolution permitted plants to independently reproduce without water. Besides, pollen permits plants in dispersing their gametes to a great distance (Candela, 2020). Notably, seed plants have broken from the necessity of depending on water for their reproduction needs. They are essential in all planet’s life affecting climate, shaping the physical terrain as well as maintaining life.
Are these changes able to support the Darwinian theory of natural selection?
The evolutionary changes in plants supports the Darwinian theory of natural selection as plants. For instance, the field mustard plant was able to survive in a Southern Californian drought pegged on its genetic changes which enabled it to produce flowers at an earlier stage (LTK, 2020). In essence, plants which survive a drought usually have a growing season which is short and hence, there was a rapid evolution of the field mustard.