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PLANT EVOLUTION
Featured Story
New This Week
Science
Story
182 Million years ago (+/- 5 million)
Diatoms Emerge
Glass-like silica cell walls
Plant Evolution
Diatoms show how evolution can turn simple life into elegant design. The round centric forms radiate outward like tiny glass suns, while later pennate forms stretch into canoe-like bodies with axis, orientation, and sometimes gliding motion. They are not agents in the animal sense, but they offer a modest glimpse of proto-agency: life responding to the world through direction, movement, and form.
Featured QUOTE
Featured FAQ
Science
FAQ
Did red algae descend from green algae?
Plant Evolution
Red and green algae diverged about 1.5 billion years ago, shaping marine ecosystems. Green algae later gave rise to land plants around 475 million years ago, transforming Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Fun fact: blue-green algae aren’t algae at all. They’re photosynthetic bacteria that emerged much earlier, around 2.7 billion years ago.
Updated Tidbits
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 weeks ago)
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 weeks ago)
05 May 2026
(Updated 2 weeks ago)
Plant Evolution
From Photosynthesis to Forests
The greening of the planet.
Plant evolution charts the rise of photosynthetic life that reshaped Earth’s atmosphere and made complex ecosystems possible. From early algae to forests and flowering plants, plants transformed climate, soil, and food webs. Understanding plant evolution reveals how life altered the planet long before humans appeared.
