Sarah Kempel Evolution of Plants timeline

By kempsara
  • Period: 485 BCE to 443 BCE

    Ordovician Period

    Terrestrial plants of this period lived primarily in wet environments. These early plants reproduced by spores.
  • Period: 451 BCE to 485 BCE

    Cambrian Period

    Most plant life consisted of small, soft, marine plants, such as green algae. As terrestrial plants evolved, they cooled the climate and provided oxygen to pave the way for life to flourish on land.
  • Period: 443 BCE to 419 BCE

    Silurian Period

    The first vascular plants evolved during this period.
  • Period: 419 BCE to 358 BCE

    Devonian Period

    The first recognizable soils developed during this time. Plants developed sexual organs for reproduction, stems with vascular tissue, woody tissue for structure, and stomates for respiration.
  • Period: 358 BCE to 298 BCE

    Carboniferous Period

    Seed plants developed and colonized habitats where spore-producing plants could not flourish. These were gymnosperms: plants that produce seeds located on the leaves or the scales of cones. Gymnosperms, such as primitive conifer trees and ferns, appeared during this period.
  • Period: 299 BCE to 251 BCE

    Permian Period

    The climate dried, leading to the evolution of advanced conifers. Cycads and ginkgos appeared. Widespread forestation appeared in some regions.
  • Period: 251 BCE to 201 BCE

    Triassic Period

    Seed-bearing plants dominated over all others. Gymnosperms, such as cycads, ginkgos, and conifers, were the most prevalent plants of this period.
  • Period: 201 BCE to 145 BCE

    Jurassic Period

    Flowering plants appeared during this period, but they played only a minor role among other plants.
  • Period: 145 BCE to 66 BCE

    Cretaceous Period

    Angiosperms, plants in which male or female reproductive organs are housed in a flower, proliferated and became the dominant plants. Modern-day trees appeared.
  • Period: 1 CE to

    Quaternary Period

    As the climate cooled, large forests died off, leaving open grasslands. This happened around 30 million years ago, and grasses flourished due to their ability to adapt to dry, arid conditions.
  • Period: 66 to 1 CE

    Tertiary Period

    Grasses evolved during this period leading to the development of vast savanna ecosystems. The proliferation of grasses provided food for large, grazing mammals and protection for small animals such as rodents.