The process of natural selection #history #documentary

🌍 Before dinosaurs ruled the Earth, our planet was already teeming with life, home to an astonishing diversity of prehistoric plants. These ancient organisms shaped the first terrestrial ecosystems, creating a verdant world that defies imagination. Today, let's explore the fascinating history of prehistoric plants, from the delicate clutter of primitive ferns to the majestic conifers that dominated pre-dinosaur landscapes. Through an in-depth exploration of the flora that preceded the age of the dinosaurs, we reveal how these plants not only survived periods of massive change, but also laid the foundations for plant life as we know it today. Traveling through different geological eras, from the late Ordovician to the Permian, we'll examine the unique adaptations that enabled these plants to thrive in changing environments.
🔥 As a reminder, videos are released on SUNDAYS at 9pm.
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💥 Prehistoric Plants:
- Plants are defined as living beings that provide, among other things, the oxygen humans need to live. They are photosynthetic, autotrophic organic beings that are born, grow and die. Plants have no motor capacity and do not move on their own. They feed mainly on water and light. The first plants to arrive on Earth don't look at all like the majority of those we know today. Yet they all evolved from these primitive algae, which today form the first link in the food chains necessary for human and animal life. Algae are living organisms that produce oxygen through photosynthesis, and whose life cycle takes place mainly in aquatic environments. While some species are tiny, isolated cells, others form veritable giant underwater forests. Algae are an extremely important part of biodiversity, and form the basis of major food chains. Marine algae live in the salt water of the oceans, while other algae live in freshwater. The first algae found on Earth date back 500 million years, but recent research has brought to light tiny fossils of an alga called Proterocladus antiquus. It was found in China and dated back a billion years. This tiny alga forms vast green carpets on shallow seabeds. Its slender, thread-like branches, smaller than an ant, sway with the current on the seabed. Its structure and branching suggest that it grew upright on the seabed, aggregating into thick clumps. Proterocladus antiquus is thought to be the common ancestor of all terrestrial plants that appeared on Earth 500 million years later.
Until now, these algae have been confined to the aquatic environment. The continental surface is devoid of life. The only landscape is rock, like a vast desert, but with a few rivers. It is these rivers that will enable life to free itself from water, offering plants the opportunity to occupy an ecological niche. Thus, around 500 million years ago, plants closely resembling today's lichens and mosses conquered dry land. These first occupants clung to the rocks and hugged every nook and cranny. Water did not yet circulate in their tissue. So, to resist dehydration, they have the ability to revive. Plants dry out completely when there isn't enough water, and rehydrate as soon as the rain returns. Other plants adopt a different strategy. They equip themselves with an impermeable cuticle to reduce water loss, or specialized openings to maintain gas exchange. This enables them to withstand a long period without water. The spores they produce and disperse have a protective envelope made of a substance resembling the chitin of arthropods.
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Видео The process of natural selection #history #documentary канала Wondody | The World of Odysseys
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