Early land plants led to the rise of mud
Mud rocks increased in riverbeds as rootless plants spread around 458 million years ago

MUD MAKEOVER Before rooted plants appeared on Earth, there were bryophytes, a group including modern mosses and liverworts, such as this Marchantia. New research suggests these early land plants helped shape Earth’s surface by creating clay-rich river deposits.
F. Lamiot/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)