The early evolution of land plants, from fossils to genomics: a commentary on Lang (1937) 'On the plant-remains from the Downtonian of England and Wales'

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
Dianne Edwards, Paul Kenrick

Abstract

During the 1920s, the botanist W. H. Lang set out to collect and investigate some very unpromising fossils of uncertain affinity, which predated the known geological record of life on land. His discoveries led to a landmark publication in 1937, 'On the plant-remains from the Downtonian of England and Wales', in which he revealed a diversity of small fossil organisms of great simplicity that shed light on the nature of the earliest known land plants. These and subsequent discoveries have taken on new relevance as botanists seek to understand the plant genome and the early evolution of fundamental organ systems. Also, our developing knowledge of the composition of early land-based ecosystems and the interactions among their various components is contributing to our understanding of how life on land affects key Earth Systems (e.g. carbon cycle). The emerging paradigm is one of early life on land dominated by microbes, small bryophyte-like organisms and lichens. Collectively called cryptogamic covers, these are comparable with those that dominate certain ecosystems today. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

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Citations

Mar 24, 2016·Journal of Experimental Botany·Aurélie C M Vialette-GuiraudCharles P Scutt
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Dec 21, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·C Jill Harrison
Mar 16, 2018·The New Phytologist·Mariusz A SalamonWiesław Trela
Dec 20, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Geoffrey D AbbottEthan Hack
Dec 20, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·C Jill Harrison, Jennifer L Morris
Dec 20, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Paul Kenrick
Aug 16, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Marcel Dann, Dario Leister
Aug 10, 2017·Scientific Reports·Li LeiChristopher Toomajian
Sep 10, 2020·Evolution & Development·Victoria SpencerCecily Jill Harrison
Jul 19, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Anne-Sophie BenoistonChris Bowler
Jan 11, 2018·The New Phytologist·Jan de Vries, John M Archibald
Sep 15, 2018·Communicative & Integrative Biology·Sophie de VriesClaudio H Slamovits
Jun 21, 2017·The New Phytologist·William E Friedman
Sep 7, 2021·Journal of Experimental Botany·Karl J Niklas, Frank W Telewski
Nov 23, 2021·The New Phytologist·Dianne EdwardsPaul Kenrick

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
light microscopy
X-ray

Software Mentioned

SRXTM

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