A fossil record of land plant origins from charophyte algae

Abstract

The timing of land plant origins Until now, the first fossil evidence of land plants was from the Devonian era 420 million years ago. However, molecular phylogenetic evidence has suggested an earlier origin in the Cambrian. Strother et al . describe an assemblage of fossil spores from Ordivician deposits in Australia dating to approximately 480 million years ago (see the Perspective by Gensel). These spores are of intermediate morphology between confirmed land plant spores and earlier forms of uncertain relationship. This finding may help to resolve discrepancies between molecular and fossil data for the timing of land plant origins. —AMS