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Cycads
belong to the division Cycadophyta. They were one of the dominant plant
forms back in the Mesozoic, the 'Age of the Dinosaurs', when they would
have comprised much of the forest as flowering trees do today. Many
species of cycads are toxic, containing the lethal compound macrozamin,
(including the species found in the rainforests here), and it has even
been suggested that this high toxicity initially evolved in this
ancient group to deter predation by dinosaurs.
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