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The evolution of lycopsid rooting structures: conservatism and disparity
Author(s) -
Hetherington Alexander J.,
Dolan Liam
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14324
Subject(s) - conservatism , fossil record , biology , plant evolution , period (music) , botany , evolutionary biology , paleontology , cretaceous , biochemistry , genome , politics , political science , gene , law , physics , acoustics
ContentsSummary 538 I. Introduction 538 II. Conservation of lycopsid root structure 539 III. Disparity in the structures from which lycopsid roots develop 541 IV. Conclusions 542Acknowledgements 543References 543Summary The evolution of rooting structures was a crucial event in Earth's history, increasing the ability of plants to extract water, mine for nutrients and anchor above‐ground shoot systems. Fossil evidence indicates that roots evolved at least twice among vascular plants, in the euphyllophytes and independently in the lycophytes. Here, we review the anatomy and evolution of lycopsid rooting structures. Highlighting recent discoveries made with fossils we suggest that the evolution of lycopsid rooting structures displays two contrasting patterns – conservatism and disparity. The structures termed roots have remained structurally similar despite hundreds of millions of years of evolution – an example of remarkable conservatism. By contrast, and over the same time period, the organs that give rise to roots have diversified, resulting in the evolution of numerous novel and disparate organs.