Comment on Ray is basic.
bryophile@lemmy.zip 14 hours agoThat’s debatable, most sources estimate mosses to have been there before lichens. It’s all estimations spanning millions of years of course.
Mosses have leaves with chlorophyll though! Way more interesting in the context of there being trees or not. Lichens are just scabs on a rock.
Biffsbraincell@lemmy.zip 14 hours ago
Um say what? Lichens are a complex composite life form that is a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus and an algae or cyanobacterium. Scabs on a rock! The disrespect!
bryophile@lemmy.zip 14 hours ago
Obnoxious creatures they are, always trying to take the shine from mosses. Mosses don’t need symbiosis because they’re perfectly able to survive harsh conditions by themselves. There’s been hardly a need to change their perfect designs for millions of years.
Lichens just make new symbiotic relationships whenever they feel like it. They’re a promiscuous lot. Promiscuous scabs on a rock.