Fossil records show that over time, plants developed more specialized structures that divided these reproductive and photosynthetic functions. Moving through plant lineages, from spore-bearing ...

Evolution is often depicted as a steady forward march from simple to complex forms. But new research shows that certain ferns can evolve “backward” ...

Fossil records show that over time, plants developed more specialized structures that divided these reproductive and photosynthetic functions. Moving through plant lineages, from spore-bearing ...

That's basically what an unfertilized seed is—a highly modified dimorphic fern leaf, in a capsule. Seeds are just one highly specialized structure in a suite of reproductive traits, each ...