How did the first seed plants (the Gymnosperms) evolve? 

For this class we use Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants / Edition 2 by Wilson N. Stewart, Gar W. Rothwell, a great website on this topic can be found at: www.devoniantimes.org/who/pages/lyginopterids.html

@@BenjaminBurgerScience very well made!!!!!!! But if gymnosperms do not produce fruit around the seeds, how can cycads be gymnosperms? Some cycads like the "Cardboard Palm" have bright pink / red flesh around their seeds. I gather they're toxic to humans, but I have witnessed ants scurry all over them, so the ants must get some benefit from them.

www.pinterest.com/pin/379850549792964663

wcdeich4 there is some debate in the scientific literature if these insects are pollinating when they visit the cones. And if they are attracted because of these cones. Awesome question!

@@BenjaminBurgerScience Thank you so much for taking time to reply sir. Actually, I saw the ants swarming over the red fleshy seeds, long after pollination. I guess we can't call it a "fruit" b/c it is not an angiosperm, but some cycad species have a thick, juicy / fleshy layer around their seeds. It is poisonous to humans & if you crush them & get the juice on your skin, it can even be carcinogenic!! But the fire ants in south Florida were attracted to it. I don 't kn ow if the ants were able to tolerate the toxins, or maybe there was some reason... leaf-cuter ants actually grow fungi from dead leaves. I'm not saying the ants would actually grow fungus from the toxic flesh around the seeds, but maybe the ants could have some other use for them that is less obvious than just eating flesh around the seed & tolerating toxins