What was the first plant on Earth: The answer is unexpected
The planet Earth is 4.543 billion years old, so some may wonder about the first plants that appeared on Earth, while a number of scientists tried to answer this question briefly.
Many studies indicate that algae were the first plants on Earth, not trees, as some believe. In the beginning, algae with simple roots were the first plants.
The first land plants appeared about 470 million years ago, during the Ordovician period when life began to diversify on Earth, and they were non-vascular plants with no deep roots.
Scientists expect that the first land plants appeared 850 million years ago.
Coxonia is generally considered the oldest known fossil of a vascular plant and dates back only 425 million years in the late Early Silurian period.
It is a small plant, not exceeding a few centimeters in height.
After about 35 million years, ice covered the Earth's surface, affecting wildlife and carbon dioxide levels, leading to the extinction of many life forms on the planet.
But the algae were able to survive and continue on the surface of the planet, and scientists believe that the secret lies in the ability of the algae to secrete organic acids. We find traces of algae and primary plants in ancient rocks, especially granite.
After the mosses, herbaceous plants and shrubs spread on the ground, then trees and plants that we know in their traditional form today.
The first appearance of plants was linked to the seas, where their appearance caused the appearance of the first animals. As for plants in their currently known form, they appeared approximately 100 million years ago, according to studies of the timeline of life on Earth, which were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on molecular clock techniques, which confirmed that ancient land plants appeared. In the Middle Cambodian period.
Source: websites