The fossil record of bryophytes is poor. Some fossils, however, show a morphology, size, and cellular detail that characterize bryophytes, and the specimens are treated as fossil bryophytes. Since sex organs and attached sporophytes are absent in nearly all fossil material and because the gametophytes of some living vascular plants resemble the gametophores of some bryophytes, the assignment of these fossils as bryophytes is by no means secure.
The first evidence marking the emergence of bryophytes appears in rocks collected from Argentina that date to the early part of the Ordovician Period (485.4 million to 443.8 million years ago). More specifically, this evidence, which occurs as fossils of liverwort cryptospores (sporelike structures) that span several genera, was found in rocks laid down between 473 million and 471 million years ago. The cryptospores are considered to be the first known terrestrial plants, and some scientists contend that the diversity of fossil cryptospores found in the rocks suggests that plants invaded the land perhaps as early as 500.5 million to 485.4 million years ago, late in the Cambrian Period.
Other bryophyte fossils are contemporaneous with the earliest vascular plants of the Late Devonian Epoch (about 382.7 million to 358.9 million years ago). These fossils structurally resemble gametophores of the liverwort order Metzgeriales. Indeed, fossil material of the Carboniferous Period (358.9 million to 298.9 million years ago) also is structurally similar to genera of Metzgeriales. The specimens are surprisingly well preserved and show considerable cellular detail.
The most elegantly preserved bryophyte fossils are those in amber of the Eocene Epoch (56 million to 33.9 million years ago). The detailed cellular structure and morphology of the gametophore make the determination of the genus reasonably secure. The genera are still extant, although not where the fossil material was found, and even the species relationships can be suggested.
For mosses, the earliest material that appears unambiguous is from the Permian Period (298.9 million to 251.9 million years ago), and the detailed relationships are not clear. The subclass Bryidae is most likely, but more precise attribution is difficult.
Well-preserved material of mosses and liverworts appears in the Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 million to 2.6 million years ago), and most of the main evolutionary lines are represented. Fossils of the Neogene (23 million to 2.6 million years ago) are relatively numerous, and subfossil material of the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years ago to the present) can be determined with confidence as modern species. Mosses are most richly represented in this material, and species of wetland habitats predominate in the record.
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