ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess

Abstract Number: 5912
Session = 8.3.2


PHYLOGENY OF BASAL TRACHEOPHYTES AND FERNS INFERRED FROM FOUR LARGE DATA SETS: MORPHOLOGY, 18S nrDNA, rbcL, and atpB.


K.M. Pryer1, H. Schneider1, J.S. Hunt1, L. Sappelsa1, P.G. Wolf2, S.D. Sipes2, & A.R. Smith3. 1Dept. of Botany, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 2Dept. of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 3University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley, CA


Estimates of a phylogeny for vascular plants are many and all have been contested. IT is generally accepted that there were two main lines of tracheophyte evolution: one comprising lycophytes and extinct relatives, and the 99% of all other vascular plants making up its sister group, the Euphyllophytina. Phylogenetic assessments based on single genes and/or morphology have provided only weak evidence for the divergence and relationships among major groups of ferns, Psilotaceae, spenopsids, and seed plants. Our results from phylogenetic analyses of three genes and morphology of extant species provide convincing support for a basal dichotomy in the Euphyllophytina between seed plants and all other (non-lycophyte) Apteridophyte@ lineages. Robust support is also provided by these data for relationships among basal fern groups.

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