Euphyllophytina, the euphyllophytes, is a taxon – sometimes unranked, sometimes placed at the rank of subdivision – within the tracheophytes. The euphyllophytes comprise one of two major lineages of extant vascular plants.[1] As shown in the cladogram below, the euphyllophytes have a sister relationship to the subdivision Lycopodiophyta or lycopsids. Unlike the lycopsids, which consist of relatively few presently living or extant taxa, the euphyllophytes comprise the vast majority of vascular plant lineages that have evolved since both groups shared a common ancestor more than 400 million years ago.[1] The euphyllophytes consist of two lineages, the Spermatophytes or seed plants such as flowering plants (angiosperms) and gymnosperms (conifers and related groups), and the Monilophytes or ferns, as well as a number of extinct fossil groups.[1] The division of the extant tracheophytes into three monophyletic lineages is supported in multiple molecular studies.[1][2][3] Other researchers argue that phylogenies based solely on molecular data without the inclusion of carefully evaluated fossil data based on whole plant reconstructions, do not necessarily completely and accurately resolve the evolutionary history of groups like the euphyllophytes.[4]
The following cladogram shows one view of the evolutionary relationships among the taxa described above.[1]
An updated phylogeny of both living and extinct Euphyllophytes[5][6][7] with plant taxon authors from Anderson, Anderson & Cleal 2007[8] and some clade names from Pelletier 2012.[9]
^ abcde"Phylogeny and evolution of ferns (monilophytes) with a focus on the early leptosporangiate divergences", American Journal of Botany, 91 (10): 1582–1598, 2004, doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1582{{citation}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
^"Horsetails and ferns are a monophyletic group and the closest living relatives to seed plants", Nature, 409 (6820): 618–622, 2001, doi:10.1038/35054555{{citation}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
^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{{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
^Kenrick, Paul; Crane, Peter R. (1997). The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 339–340. ISBN1-56098-730-8.
^Gonez, P.; Gerrienne, P. (2010a), "A New Definition and a Lectotypification of the Genus Cooksonia Lang 1937", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 171 (2): 199–215, doi:10.1086/648988{{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
^Anderson, Anderson & Cleal (2007). "Brief history of the gymnosperms: classification, biodiversity, phytogeography and ecology". Strelitzia. 20. SANBI: 280. ISBN978-1-919976-39-6.
