Extinction is a principle of evolution and well over 99% of the species that have ever lived have become extinct. The long, thin grasslike leaves were attached directly to the stem and grew in a spiral along the trunk. It was the mass extinction that saw dinosaurs wiped from the face of the earth. Unlike animals, plants cannot migrate to a … This plant was native to the Katanga Plateau in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was last seen in 1959. Most of the life on Earth is dependent on plants. Most plant and animal species last around 10 million years before disappearing. Vascular Plants (ToL: Embryophytes [land plants]