New fossil species sheds light on divergent life-history strategies in early land plants

The initial radiation of vascular land plants, evidenced by increases in both diversity and morphological disparity during the Silurian and Devonian periods, is considered plant terrestrialization, which can be seen as the terrestrial equivalent of the Cambrian explosion of marine animals. During this period, novel structures such as tracheids, stomata, leaves, roots, and secondary xylem evolved. However, the evolution of life-history strategies in early land plants remains poorly understood.