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Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives

Servais, Thomas; Cascales-Miñana, Borja; Cleal, Christopher J.; Gerrienne, Philippe; Harper, David A.T.; Neumann, Mareike

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Authors

Thomas Servais

Borja Cascales-Miñana

Christopher J. Cleal

Philippe Gerrienne

Mareike Neumann



Abstract

Recent molecular clock data suggest with high probability a Cambrian origin of Embryophyta (also called land plants), indicating that their terrestrialization most probably started about 500 Ma. The fossil record of the ‘Cambrian Explosion’ was limited to marine organisms and not visible in the plant fossil record. The most significant changes in early land plant evolution occurred during the Ordovician. For instance, the earliest bryophyte-like cryptospores and the oldest fragments of the earliest land plants are from the Middle and Late Ordovician, respectively. Organic geochemistry studies on biomarker compositions hint at a transition from green algae to land plants during the ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’ (GOBE). The colonization of the terrestrial realms by land plants clearly had an impact on marine ecosystems. Interactions between the terrestrial and marine biospheres have been proposed and the radiation of land plants potentially impacted on CO2 and O2 concentrations and on global climate. In addition, the shift of strontium isotopes during the Ordovician is probably linked to changing terrestrial landscapes, affected by the first massive land invasion of eukaryotic terrestrial life. The land plants seem unaffected by the first global mass extinction at the end of the Ordovician that eliminated many marine invertebrate taxa.

Citation

Servais, T., Cascales-Miñana, B., Cleal, C. J., Gerrienne, P., Harper, D. A., & Neumann, M. (2019). Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 534, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109280

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 19, 2019
Online Publication Date Aug 4, 2019
Publication Date Nov 30, 2019
Deposit Date Feb 3, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Print ISSN 0031-0182
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 534
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109280

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