Move from a modelled crown divergence to dispersed cryptospores, spore-bearing fragments and anatomically informative Devonian bodies without collapsing them into one origin date.
Each step names its evidence claims, with references below. Interactive Explorer states are available in the full application; the narrative remains an editorial synthesis.
A fossil-calibrated relaxed clock places crown Embryophyta in a broad middle Cambrian–Early Ordovician interval, but this is a model result rather than a fossil occurrence.
The Plantae node is navigation context; the claim concerns crown Embryophyta.
claim:event:plants-on-landA Dapingian assemblage in Argentina contains five cryptospore genera, but dispersed propagules do not reveal a complete parent plant or a crown-bryophyte identity.
The source-reported numerical ages are retained; they are not silently replaced by the current ICS Dapingian boundaries.
claim:event:dapingian-cryptosporesLate Ordovician Oman fragments preserve dense spore masses and probable sporangial covering, strengthening the land-plant interpretation while leaving liverwort crown affinity tentative.
The broad window translates a legacy Caradoc assignment for display; it is not a point date.
claim:event:ordovician-sporangia:caradoc-record · claim:event:ordovician-sporangia:spore-massesThree-dimensional fossil reconstruction shows how Asteroxylon combined leafy shoots, root-bearing axes and rooting axes through an extinct developmental pathway.
A species-level exemplar cannot supply morphology for every lycophyte lineage.
claim:event:asteroxylon-rooting-systemGivetian Metzgeriothallus preserves thalloid gametophytes and an associated sporophyte capsule, adding body-plan information without turning one occurrence into a phylum origin date.
Occurrence, morphology and crown divergence remain separate evidence objects.
claim:event:metzgeriothallus:givetian-record · claim:event:metzgeriothallus:body-plan