Is morphology really at odds with molecules in estimating fern phylogeny?
Abstract
Using a morphological dataset of 136 vegetative and reproductive characters, we infer
the tracheophyte phylogeny with an emphasis on early divergences of ferns (monilophytes).
The dataset comprises morphological, anatomical, biochemical, and some DNA structural
characters for a taxon sample of 35 species, including representatives of all major
lineages of vascular plants, especially ferns. Phylogenetic relationships among vascular
plants are reconstructed using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. Both approaches
yield similar relationships and provide evidence for three major lineages of extant
vascular plants: lycophytes, ferns, and seed plants. Lycophytes are sister to the
euphyllophyte clade, which comprises the fern and seed plant lineages. The fern lineage
consists of five clades: horsetails, whisk ferns, ophioglossoids, marattioids, and
leptosporangiate ferns. This lineage is supported by characters of the spore wall
and has a parsimony bootstrap value of 76%, although the Bayesian posterior probability
is only 0.53. Each of the five fern clades is well supported, but the relationships
among them lack statistical support. Our independent phylogenetic analyses of morphological
evidence recover the same deep phylogenetic relationships among tracheophytes as found
in previous studies utilizing DNA sequence data, but differ in some ways within seed
plants and within ferns. We discuss the extensive independent evolution of the five
extant fern clades and the evidence for the placement of whisk ferns and horsetails
in our morphological analyses. © 2009 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Science & TechnologyLife Sciences & Biomedicine
Plant Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Equisetaceae
horsetails
leptosporangiate ferns
lycophytes
monilophytes
Ophioglossaceae
Psilotaceae
seed plants
SEED PLANT PHYLOGENY
GAMETOPHYTE-SPOROPHYTE JUNCTION
ROOT APICAL MERISTEM
EARLIEST LAND PLANTS
VASCULAR PLANTS
SHOOT APEX
CLADISTIC-ANALYSIS
PSILOTUM-NUDUM
LEAF EVOLUTION
SEQUENCE DATA
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21798Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1600/036364409789271209Publication Info
Schneider, H; Smith, AR; & Pryer, KM (2009). Is morphology really at odds with molecules in estimating fern phylogeny?. Systematic Botany, 34(3). pp. 455-475. 10.1600/036364409789271209. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21798.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Kathleen M. Pryer
Professor of Biology

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