J Syst Evol ›› 2016, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (6): 563-603.DOI: 10.1111/jse.12229

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns

The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group   

  1. 1Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
    2Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University & Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London
    3University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley
    4Research & Education, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden
    5Herbário, Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo
    6Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Herbier National, Paris
    7Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
    8Pringle Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology, University of Vermont
    9Herbário HSTM, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
    10Fern Research Foundation, Kerikeri 11Department of Biology, University of Florida 12Queensland Herbarium; Department of Science and Innovation and Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University 13Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Regional de Blumenau 14University Herbarium and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley 15Department of Biology, Duke University 16Nees-Institut für Biodiversität der Pflanzen, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 17Laboratoire de Botanique Évolutive, Institut de Biologie, Université de Neuchâtel 18Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo 19Department of Biology, University of Turku 20Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa 21Museum of the North, University of Alaska Fairbanks 22Missouri Botanical Garden 23Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University 24Collections, Research, and Learning, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 25Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto 26Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona 27Division of Botany, Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute 28Hengchun Research Center, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute 29Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University 30Division of Botanical Garden, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute 31College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University 32Herbarium, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute 33Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora 34Department of Botany, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University 35Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 36Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University 37Departamento de Biología Vegetal I, Universidad Complutense de Madrid 38Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth 39Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas 40Department of Biology, Denison University 41Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich 42Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University 43Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Paraná 44Plant Resources Center, University of Texas at Austin 45State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 46Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University 47
  • Received:2016-10-07 Published:2016-12-15

Abstract: Phylogeny has long informed pteridophyte classification. As our ability to infer evolutionary trees has improved, classifications aimed at recognizing natural groups have become increasingly predictive and stable. Here, we provide a modern, comprehensive classification for lycophytes and ferns, down to the genus level, utilizing a community-based approach. We use monophyly as the primary criterion for the recognition of taxa, but also aim to preserve existing taxa and circumscriptions that are both widely accepted and consistent with our understanding of pteridophyte phylogeny. In total, this classification treats an estimated 11 916 species in 337 genera, 51 families, 14 orders, and two classes. This classification is not intended as the final word on lycophyte and fern taxonomy, but rather a summary statement of current hypotheses, derived from the best available data and shaped by those most familiar with the plants in question. We hope that it will serve as a resource for those wanting references to the recent literature on pteridophyte phylogeny and classification, a framework for guiding future investigations, and a stimulus to further discourse.

Key words: classification, ferns, lycophytes, monophyly, phylogeny, pteridophytes