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The Conversation
Environment
Jacob S. Suissa, Assistant Professor of Plant Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee

Ferns’ ability to evolve ‘backward’ offers insights into the meandering path of evolution

Unfurling fiddlehead of the Christmas fern (_Polystichum acrostichoides_). Jacob S. Suissa, CC BY-ND

Imagine a photograph of your great-grandparents, grandparents and parents side by side. You’d see a resemblance, but each generation would look distinct from its predecessors. This is the process of evolution in its simplest form: descent with modification.

Over many generations, a staggering amount of modification is possible. This is how the diversity of life on Earth came to be.

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