3: Origin of Trees & Forests
Origin of Trees; Rise of Forests (385-275 Ma)
Lecture Resources
Session 3 Notes
Narrative
The Rise of Trees (390-350 mya)
Great Coal-Age Swamps (350-300 mya)
Geologic Periods
Portions of the Paleozoic Era
Early Permian Period (299-272 Ma)
Carboniferous Period (359-299 Ma)
Middle-Late Devonian Period (385-359 Ma)
Events of Note
First tree-like plants (Cladoxylopsids)
First swamps
First cambium and wood
First true leaves
Origin of forests and true trees (Progymnosperms)
Diversification of land invertebrates
Origin of amphibians
Plant groups covered in class
Progymnosperms † (spore-bearing, woody trees)
Lepidodendron † (Scale trees)
Ferns and fern-like plants
Eospermatopteris † (Cladoxylopsids)
Psaronius † (Marattioid tree ferns)
Horsetails
Calamites † and Equisetum
Extended Learning - Groups Not Covered in Class
Lycopodiales (true clubmosses)
Isoetales (quillworts)
Selaginellales (spike-mosses)
Ferns and fern-like plants
Horsetail-like plants
Questions for Thought
Why was the developmental control of apical cell branching crucial to land plant evolution?
What advantages did early clubmosses have over rhyniophytes?
What advantages did trimerophytes have over rhyniophytes?
How was the growth of the Lepidodendrids important to the formation of fossil fuels?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Telome Concept?
How are horsetails from the Carboniferous and modern day similar and different?.
Plants may be the cause for the Late Devonian extinction event. Explain how.
