The earliest conifers in the fossil record date to the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) period (about 300 million years ago), possibly arising from Cordaites, a genus of seed-bearing Gondwanan plants with cone-like fertile structures.
Pinophytes, Cycadophytes, and Ginkgophytes all developed at this time.
An important adaptation of these gymnosperms was allowing plants to live without being so dependent on water.
Other adaptations are pollen (so fertilisation can occur without water) and the seed, which allows the embryo to be transported and developed elsewhere.

Conifers appear to be one of the taxa that benefited from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and were the dominant land plants of the Mesozoic era.
They were overtaken by the flowering plants, which first appeared in the Cretaceous, and became dominant in the Cenozoic era.
Conifers were the main food of herbivorous dinosaurs, and their resins and poisons would have given protection against herbivores.
Reproductive features of modern conifers had evolved by the end of the Mesozoic era.
The earliest conifers in the fossil record date to the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) period (about 300 million years ago), possibly arising from Cordaites, a genus of seed-bearing Gondwanan plants with cone-like fertile structures. Pinophytes, Cycadophytes, and Ginkgophytes all developed at this time. An important adaptation of these gymnosperms was allowing plants to live without being so dependent on water. Other adaptations are pollen (so fertilisation can occur without water) and the seed, which allows the embryo to be transported and developed elsewhere.
Conifers appear to be one of the taxa that benefited from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and were the dominant land plants of the Mesozoic era. They were overtaken by the flowering plants, which first appeared in the Cretaceous, and became dominant in the Cenozoic era. Conifers were the main food of herbivorous dinosaurs, and their resins and poisons would have given protection against herbivores. Reproductive features of modern conifers had evolved by the end of the Mesozoic era.
Pinophyta