1997). The basis of all plants' alternating generations and complex life cycles could be found in a common ancestor shared with fern species, even though ferns are no better reproducing sexually than moss are fully dependent on a saturated enough environment to perform a task that flowers have developed innumerable methods of getting done (Munster et al. 1997; Mehltreter et al. 2010). Conclusion

The life cycles of moss and ferns are highly similar, with both developing from haploid cells and gametophytes that sexually reproduce to create sporophytes, which in turn asexually reproduce by producing haploid spores that start the cycle all over again. Mosses, however, are more typically found in their haploid gametophyte stage, which the sporophytes are dependent on, whereas ferns are most often seen in the sporophyte stage, in which they can survive for hundreds of years. Both types of organisms are still being studied today to provide clues to our own evolution and other genetic mysteries.

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