Phylogenetic analysis of the conifer family Podocarpaceae based on morphological and molecular evidence.

ANA ANDRUCHOW COLOMBO; IGNACIO ESCAPA ; LONE AAGESEN

Congreso; XXXV Willi Hennig Society Meeting; 2016

MACN

Family Podocarpaceae, the second largest within conifers (19 genera, 194 species), can be traced back to the Late Triassic, and is today mainly found in tropical-subtropical mountains of the Southern Hemisphere. Previous phylogenetic studies of Podocarpaceae are mostly based on molecular data, although genus level morphological matrices have been published, one including five Mesozoic fossil taxa. However, the affinities with the family for most pre-Cretaceous fossils are still obscure and controversial, hence, plesiomorphic configurations of the family and the transformations suffered through time by the lineages are unclear. We revised and expanded published morphological matrices for Podocarpaceae, including representatives of all extant genera, together with a comprehensive sample of fossil taxa with certain and dubious podocarpaceous affinities (e.g. Telemachus elongatus, Rissikia media, Mataia podocarpoides, Triassic; Cupressinocladus cracoviensis, Nothodacrium warrenii, Jurassic;Squamostrobus tigrensis, Bellingshausim willeyii, Cretaceous; Dacrycarpus puertae, Eocene; Dacrydium sp. ?Blue Lake?, Miocene) and representatives of additional conifer families as outgroups. The ages of major divergence events for the family are discussed on the basis of direct stratigraphically adjustedphylogenetic hypotheses, and compared with previous molecular clock estimations. This matrix is a first step towards a total evidence analysis for the order Araucariales, it provides useful information about the plesiomorphic configuration of Podocarpaceae, and about the early evolution of the family, particularly for important seed cone features such as the origin and homology of the epimatium tissues, the number of seeds per cone, and the early ovule and seed orientations.