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Tue16Apr2019Seven Arts, Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PDDr Andrew Cuming, Centre for Plant Sciences, Leeds University
How did plants first make the transition from their wet habitats to dry land? How were they able to survive in drier environments?
Dr Andrew Cuming is senior lecturer on genetics at Leeds University, and researcher into the evolution of plants. He has described ancient plants such as mosses and green algae as "time machines" that help us reveal evolutionary secrets that changed the world. In this talk, Dr Cuming will describe how mosses became the first true land plants about 500 million years ago. He will talk about the adaptations that would have been necessary for plants to survive on land, and about his research into the evolutionary process that enabled them to achieve that.
Before plants colonised land, the world was a barren place. Once they had evolved to survive in the drier land environment, plants changed the planet, its climate and even its geology.