Critical Thinking Questions
24. Why did land plants lose some of the accessory pigments present in brown and red algae?
25. What is the difference between extant and extinct?
26. Describe at least two challenges that cactuses had to overcome that cattails did not.
27. Describe a minimum of two ways that plants changed the land environment to support the emergence of land animals.
28. To an alga, what is the main advantage of producing drought-resistant structures?
29. In areas where it rains often, mosses grow on roofs. How do mosses survive on roofs without soil?
30. What are the three classes of bryophytes?
31. Describe two adaptations that are present in mosses, but not hornworts or liverworts, which reflect steps of evolution toward land plants.
32. Bryophytes form a monophyletic group that transitions between green algae and vascular plants. Describe at least one similarity and one difference between bryophyte reproduction and green algae reproduction.
33. How did the development of a vascular system contribute to the increase in size of plants?
34. Which plant is considered the most advanced seedless vascular plant and why?
35. Ferns are simultaneously involved in promoting rock weathering, while preventing soil erosion. Explain how a single plant can perform both these functions, and how these functions are beneficial to its ecosystem.