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How primitive plants evolved to survive Earth's most catastrophic extinction event

  • April 20, 2026 at 3:00 PM
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How primitive plants evolved to survive Earth's most catastrophic extinction event
Earth responded to its most severe past warming event by evolving a new and bizarre type of photosynthesis that allowed a group of primitive plants to survive. Research led by the University of Leeds has revealed how lycophytes—a type of ancient plant—not only survived a mass extinction 250 million years ago but then came to dominate the recovering landscapes.

Originally published at Phys.org

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