Seagrass evolution

1.The first plants on the planet were oceanic phytoplankton.

2.Then, algae and the first terrestrial plants appeared.

3.Eventually, some terrestrial angiosperms adapted to life in the sea and gave way to mangrove trees and seagrasses.

• The first plants to exist on our planet appeared during the Precambrian era (approximately 4,500 million years), in the form of marine phytoplankton.

• Phytoplankton greatly diversified during the Silurian period and, as a result, macroalgae and the first terrestrial plants developed (450 million years ago.)

• Finally, during the Cretaceous (145 million years ago), some terrestrial angiosperms adapted to life in the sea and the first mangrove trees and seagrasses developed.

• In summary: some plants, such as algae, originated in the sea, adapted and evolved to colonize land as terrestrial plants, and then further evolved and returned to the sea as marine angiosperms like seagrasses.