What is the plant life on the Paleozoic Era?

Answer 1

The Paleozoic Era lasted 291 million years from the start of the Cambrian Period 542 million years ago until the end of the Permian Period 251 million years ago.

Life of every kind went through great changes.

The first evidence for plants predate the Paleozoic Era. Evidence that resembles green algae is found in rocks in the late Proterozoic Eon but exact classification into the Kingdom Plantae has not been confirmed.

The first confirmed plants come from the Cambrian Period(542 - 488.3Ma). They take the form of simple green algae possibly of the order Dasycladales. These normally live in aquatic environments. It is during this period that we find evidence for the first plants on land. Fossil species closely related to the river plant Charales have been found in rocks from around this age.

It was not until the Ordovician Period(488.3 - 443.7Ma) that the first Embryophytes evolved. Embryophytes is the clade of plants that contain most of the plants that you would recognise. These plants are primarily land plants although some species are considered semi- aquatic. Fossils from this period are fragmentary and exact classification is difficult.

The Silurian Period(443.7 - 416Ma) gives us the first complete fossils of Embroyophytes. This is the time in history that we can confirm wide spread land plants. Species such as the extinct Lycopodiophyta Baragwanathia longfolia become common in terrestrial environments.

During the Devonian Period(416 - 359.2Ma) we see the first evidence of the first trees. The earliest known trees the Wattieza & Archaropteris were closly related to ferns unlike most modern trees. They grew up into huge forests pumping vast amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.

By the Carboniferous Period(359.2 - 299Ma) these forests covered the land. Most of the coal on the planet are the remains of these huge forests. The levels of oxygen in the atmosphere were much higher than today as a result of these forest. It was this that allowed the arthropods to become massive. The first conifers appear at this time in history.

The Permian Peroid(299 - 251Ma) saw the formation of the super-continent Pangaea. The interior of this continent was dominated by huge deserts. The changes in environment caused huge changes in the plants that dominated the land. By the end of the Permian the fern like trees, that had dominated for millions of years, had been replaced by conifers as the most common trees on the planet.

The end of the Paleozoic Era was marked by the planets worst extinction event, the Permian-Triassic Extinction or "The Great Dying". It shows a clear decline in the conifer species and the beginning of the Mesozoic Era a resurgence of the Lycopdhates.

It was not until the Mesozoic Era that plants that dominate most environments on land today such as flowering plants and grasses evolved.

Answer 2

In the early Mesozoic, tree ferns and conifers were the primary flora. Then, towards the boundary of the Triassic and Jurassic, cycads and then ginkgos evolved. All of these remained the primary flora until the beginning of the Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago, when the first flowering plants evolved. Magnolids and palms diversified during the Cretaceous, while ginkgos declined to only one or a few species by the end of the Mesozoic. Conifers and cycads, however, still made up the majority of flora until the end of the Mesozoic.

Answer 3

Here are a list of prehistoric plant groups that lived during the Mesozoic:

TRIASSIC

Cycadeoids

Cycads

Ferns

Tree ferns

Conifers

JURASSIC

Cycadeoids

Cycads

Ferns

Tree Ferns

Conifers

Gingkoes

CRETACEOUS

Cycadeoids (died out somewhat before the end of the Cretaceous)

Cycads

Ferns

Tree Ferns

Conifers

Gingko

Palm Trees

Grasses (at the edge of water)

Magnolids (a group of trees whose surviving members include magnolias, laurels, and avocado trees)

Answer 4

During the Paleozoic Era, plant life consisted mainly of primitive vascular plants such as ferns, horsetails, and lycophytes. These plants were the first to evolve roots, stems, and leaves, paving the way for the diversification of plant life on land. By the end of the Paleozoic Era, seed-bearing plants had started to emerge.

Answer 5

what is the plant life of the paleozoic era

Answer 6

angiosperms, flowering plants that include trees, grass...etc

Answer 7

Angiosperms (flowering plants) become the dominant plant during the Mesozoic Era.