The History of Land PlantsCase 5: How have plants responded to huge herbivores?
The plants the dinosaurs ate.
Why are cycad stems to rough?
The evolution and diversification of the dinosaurs affected plant evolution. Huge plant eaters could eat any plant they liked. In response, the plants that survived were those that evolved protection - some of it physical and some of it chemical.
Fossil cycads and similar looking bennettitaleans were small slender trees living before the dinosaurs. But due to selection by the dinosaurs they become short and covered with thick, spiny armor. Cycads still have this protection today, although no large herbivore eats them today.
Conifers (such as junipers) also existed before dinosaurs. They evolved resin as chemical protection. This resin, that makes the stems sticky, is still used for protection by living conifers today.
To see close-ups of the specimens in this display, click here. Seed Plant: Boldly Growing Where No Plant Has Grown Before Monster Plants That Created Coal Flowering Plants: The New Revolution
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