Bryophyta

Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta sensu stricto. Bryophyta sensu lato may also refer to the parent group, bryophytes, which comprises liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. Mosses typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia superba, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 60 cm (24 in) in height. There are approximately 12,000 species.

Bryophyta

IvoShandor · CC BY 2.5 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EmbryophytaPBDB
Diet
"photoautotroph"PBDB, for Streptophyta

Time the record covers

At least 419 million years on record.

The record covers at least 419.62 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 443.1 Mya to 0 Mya.

Ordovician — about 0 of 1304 occurrencesSilurian — about 4 of 1304 occurrencesDevonian — about 73 of 1304 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 33 of 1304 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 83 of 1304 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 6 of 1304 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 2 of 1304 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 56 of 1304 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 12 of 1304 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 28 of 1304 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 37 of 1304 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 275 of 1304 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 221 of 1304 occurrencesPaleocene — about 180 of 1304 occurrencesEocene — about 56 of 1304 occurrencesOligocene — about 12 of 1304 occurrencesMiocene — about 39 of 1304 occurrencesPliocene — about 15 of 1304 occurrencesPleistocene — about 165 of 1304 occurrences452–437 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences437–422 Mya — about 1 occurrence422–407 Mya — about 22 occurrences407–392 Mya — about 15 occurrences392–377 Mya — about 28 occurrences377–362 Mya — about 9 occurrences362–347 Mya — about 1 occurrence347–331 Mya — about 2 occurrences331–316 Mya — about 6 occurrences316–301 Mya — about 24 occurrences301–286 Mya — about 5 occurrences286–271 Mya — about 21 occurrences271–256 Mya — about 48 occurrences256–241 Mya — about 16 occurrences241–226 Mya — about 33 occurrences226–211 Mya — about 13 occurrences211–196 Mya — about 15 occurrences196–181 Mya — about 6 occurrences181–166 Mya — about 26 occurrences166–151 Mya — about 27 occurrences151–136 Mya — about 25 occurrences136–121 Mya — about 49 occurrences121–105 Mya — about 158 occurrences105–90 Mya — about 109 occurrences90–75 Mya — about 42 occurrences75–60 Mya — about 270 occurrences60–45 Mya — about 68 occurrences45–30 Mya — about 31 occurrences30–15 Mya — about 27 occurrences15–0 Mya — about 207 occurrences419.62 Mya11.7 ka452 Mya0 Mya

1,304 occurrences of Bryophyta on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,304 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

216 formations

Fort Union — 46.51°N, 103.88°WFort Union — 46.46°N, 103.97°WFort Union — 46.44°N, 104.00°WFort Union — 47.10°N, 104.72°WFort Union — 46.42°N, 105.83°WFort Union — 47.97°N, 102.55°WFort Union — 46.35°N, 103.87°WFort Union — 46.02°N, 103.76°WFort Union — 46.48°N, 105.67°WFort Union — 44.71°N, 106.17°WFort Union — 44.83°N, 106.09°WFort Union — 44.88°N, 106.06°WFort Union — 46.60°N, 105.68°WFort Union — 45.59°N, 105.68°WFort Union — 45.55°N, 105.72°WRunnymede — 37.37°S, 140.90°ETambo — 27.34°S, 135.72°ETambo — 29.13°S, 140.88°EMolteno — 29.50°S, 29.50°EMolteno — 30.50°S, 29.00°EMolteno — 28.57°S, 29.05°EMolteno — 31.50°S, 28.00°EMolteno — 31.47°S, 26.43°EMolteno — 31.47°S, 26.83°EMolteno — 31.57°S, 26.22°EMolteno — 31.52°S, 26.90°EMolteno — 31.50°S, 27.00°EMolteno — 31.05°S, 26.80°EMolteno — 31.57°S, 26.27°EMolteno — 30.00°S, 29.00°EMolteno — 31.50°S, 27.93°EMolteno — 31.53°S, 26.23°EMolteno — 30.48°S, 27.10°EMolteno — 30.68°S, 26.95°EMolteno — 31.62°S, 27.52°EMolteno — 31.07°S, 26.55°EMonte Chico — 51.59°S, 72.41°WMonte Chico — 51.18°S, 72.29°WBathurst Island — 11.79°S, 130.23°EBathurst Island — 11.78°S, 130.35°ELefipán — 42.67°S, 69.83°WLefipán — 42.58°S, 69.98°WLa Colonia — 43.10°S, 67.75°WLa Colonia — 43.02°S, 67.66°WLa Colonia — 43.01°S, 67.62°WLa Colonia — 42.97°S, 67.54°WTurtel Mountain — 49.06°N, 100.56°WHell Creek — 46.29°N, 103.88°WHell Creek — 49.32°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.02°N, 103.76°WKachaike — 49.06°S, 72.14°WKachaike — 48.82°S, 72.12°WKachaike — 49.00°S, 72.00°WKachaike — 48.85°S, 72.15°WKachaike — 48.85°S, 72.15°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.28°S, 56.77°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.31°S, 56.88°WGneudna — 26.00°S, 115.00°EGneudna — 23.00°S, 116.00°EChorrillo — 50.51°S, 72.56°WKootenai — 47.48°N, 111.37°WBentiu — 11.03°N, 27.74°EPiedra Clavada — 49.53°S, 71.48°WPiedra Clavada — 49.60°S, 71.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.82°N, 111.57°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.49°WBhuj — 23.60°N, 69.00°EBhuj — 23.32°N, 69.77°EBhuj — 23.10°N, 69.43°EBhuj — 23.08°N, 69.32°EBhuj — 23.29°N, 69.70°EWasatch — 44.63°N, 106.17°WWasatch — 44.71°N, 106.17°WLost Branch — 37.20°N, 95.42°WRio Mayer — 49.06°S, 72.14°WRio Mayer — 48.82°S, 72.12°WCullen — 52.87°S, 68.41°WCullen — 53.00°S, 68.67°WAbu Gabra — 11.03°N, 27.74°E

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The named rock units Bryophyta has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 192 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 418 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Bryophyta and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Bryophyta and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,868 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 799 sites for Bryophyta, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

264 references

Each of the 1,304 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 252 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Bryophyta

Credit
IvoShandor
Licence
CC BY 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Bryophyta was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEmbryophyta through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.