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]

The following phylogram shows one view of the relationships between the taxa described above.^[3]

tracheophytes	lycopodiophytes Clubmosses Quillworts Spikemosses euphyllophytes spermatophytes Angiosperms Cycads Ginkgo Conifers Gnetophytes monilophytes Ophioglossoid ferns Whisk ferns Marattioid ferns Horsetails Leptosporangiate ferns

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