Terrestrial ecosystems

Fossils from Phanerozoic terrestrial ecosystems are diverse, including plants, their pollen, vertebrates, and invertebrates. Precambrian terrestrial ecosystems consisted of cyanobacteria and possibly also algae and later fungi, which likely contributed to the formation of cryptobiotic crusts and soils. In terrestrial environments, vertebrate bones can be deposited in bedded accumulations analogous to shell beds in marine environments. Detailed studies of bonebeds have been made and a variety of paleoecological evidence can be obtained from them, including ecological associations, life histories, and behavior. Bone concentrations can also result from nesting behavior. One of the most important phenomena in evolution to occur was the evolution of flight. Mobile animals including flying insects and birds have been instrumental in the evolutionary and ecological success of the flowering plants. During warm intervals in Earth's history, there was abundant forest growth at the poles.