| Abstract Detail
Past Presidents' Symposium: Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future Schuettpelz, Eric [1]. New insights on the origins of extant fern diversity. The fossil record suggests that ferns diverged from seed plants in the Devonian, roughly 400 million years ago. In the ensuing periods, both of these lineages made substantial contributions to plant diversity. Today, however, the diversity of seed plants greatly dwarfs that of ferns, primarily due the global dominance of angiosperms. Studies of fossils, as well as those integrating fossil and molecular phylogenetic data have indicated that extant fern species are not simply holdovers from the past. Instead, ferns appear to have diversified in the shadow of angiosperms. Many questions remain concerning the precise timing and tempo of fern diversification. Through analyses of a well-sampled dataset of living species, I aim to better characterize the evolutionary history of ferns, especially as it might relate to the rise of flowering plants. Broader Impacts:
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1 - University of North Carolina Wilmington, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC, 28403-5915, USA
Keywords:
biodiversity
divergence time estimation
diversification
ferns
mega-phylogeny approach.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY12
Location: Grand Ballroom A/Riverside Hilton
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2013
Time: 3:15 PM
Number: SY12004
Abstract ID:205
Candidate for Awards:None |
