Range Chart of Some Early Land Plants

Stratigraphic Range Chart for some of the taxa discussed in this lab. You will note that some of the taxa (particularly the living bryophytes) are represented by dashed lines. These are not actual, but inferred, ranges. In other words, we assume that these lineages must have existed because their sister taxa are found in the fossil record. However, we do not have actual fossil examples of the dashed taxa. This is not too surprising since these are small, delicate plants that are unlikely to preserve in the fossil record, although some have suggested that early spore tetrads may represent liverworts (hence the question mark associated with this group's range). Taxa in this situation are sometimes called "ghost taxa" because we beleive that the lineages must have existed, but we have no physical substance (fossil record) for them.

---

[Title Page] [Directory Page]

---