Euphyllophytina

Euphyllophytina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Tracheophyta
Subdivision: Euphyllophytina (but see text)
Synonyms

Euphyllophytes

Euphyllophytina, the euphyllophytes, is a taxon – sometimes unranked, sometimes placed at the informal rank of subdivision – within the tracheophytes. It is sister to subdivision Lycopodiophyta. Euphyllophytina contains the two groups Spermatophytes (seed plants) and Monilophytes (ferns), as well as a number of extinct fossil taxa. The division of the extant tracheophytes into three monophyletic lineages is supported in multiple molecular studies.[1][2][3] Other researchers state that taking fossils into account leads to different conclusions, for example that the ferns are not monophyletic.[4]

References

  1. ^ Smith, A. R., K. M. Pryer, et al. (2006). "A classification for extant ferns." Taxon 55(3): 705-731
  2. ^ Pryer, K. M., H. Schneider, et al. (2001). "Horsetails and ferns are a monophyletic group and the closest living relatives to seed plants." Nature 409(6820): 618-22
  3. ^ Pryer, K. M., E. Schuettpelz, et al. (2004). Phylogeny and evolution of ferns (monilophytes) with a focus on the early leptosporangiate divergences 1, Botanical Soc America. 91: 1582-1598
  4. ^ Rothwell, G.W. & Nixon, K.C. (2006), "How Does the Inclusion of Fossil Data Change Our Conclusions about the Phylogenetic History of Euphyllophytes?", International Journal of Plant Sciences 167 (3): 737–749, doi:10.1086/503298