What are Some Plant Adaptations to Herbivory?
Plants have been developing adaptations against herbivory as long as herbivores have existed, since 420 million years ago (in the late Silurian) or even earlier. The earliest fossils of land plants date to between 510 and 450 million years ago, during the late Cambrian and Ordovician periods. The earliest fossils of herbivores (millipedes) date to 428 million years ago, during the mid-Silurian, so there may have been a period during which plants could exist without evolving adaptations against herbivory by animals, though they were probably preyed on by fungi, bacteria, archaea, and microorganisms during this time. Modern plant adaptations against herbivory fall into four main categories: avoiding or repelling the herbivores (antixenosis), tolerating herbivory and regenerating quickly or leading the herbivore to devour non-essential parts, summoning the natural enemies of the herbivores in question, or direct confrontation; producing toxins to kill the herbivore or reduce its own diges
