Abstract Detail

A century of seed ferns: A symposium to celebrate paradigm shifts in the understanding of seed plant

Hilton, Jason [1].

Relationships Among Seed Ferns as Determined From Their Seeds.

Despite their first recognition 100 years ago remarkably few seed-ferns are comprehensively known as whole plant species. In this presentation the diversity of seed-fern ovules and seeds will be assessed, contrasting those known from whole plant species that have been included in cladistic analyses with those that have not. Seeds represent the whole plant at o­ne part of its life cycle and are both character rich and distinctive in their morphologies. This suggests that in the absence of a whole plant morphology ovules and seeds may present important phylogenetic information. This not o­nly increases taxon sampling in extinct seed plants, but suggests that seed plant clades may be identified by the presence of unique characters of their ovules and seeds. This talk will introduce the use of ovules in determining relationships in seed plant groups, and will test phylogenetic signals determined from ovules as well as whole plant species.

1 - University of Birmingham, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, G5 Aston Webb Building, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B152TT, UK

Keywords:
Paleozoic
seed ferns
Seeds
phylogeny.

Presentation Type: Symposium
Session: 25-7
Location: Ballroom 1 (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Time: 11:00 AM
Abstract ID:208