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Selaginella (Selaginellales, Selaginellaceae) is the most speciose genus of lycophytes and, with approximately 750 recognized present-day species, also one of the largest genera of vascular plants. However, the evolutionary history of this species richness remains largely unresolved. Recent research suggests that Selaginella was diverse already in the mid-Cretaceous and shows that S. subg. Stachygynandrum dates back at least to the incipient Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution some 100 million years ago. Here, we describe 20 new fossil-species of Selaginella based on fertile shoots and spores preserved in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from Myanmar and emend the previously described S. cretacea. Ten of the species (S. ciliifera, S. cretacea, S. grimaldii, S. heterosporangiata, S. longifimbriata, S. minutissima, S. ohlhoffiorum, S. patrickmuelleri, S. villosa, S. wangxinii) represent S. subg. Stachygynandrum because they possess anisophyllous strobili. The other eleven species have isophyllous strobili. Two of them (S. isophylla, S. wunderlichiana) are tentatively assigned to S. subg. Ericetorum, whereas the others (S. amplexicaulis, S. aurita, S. heinrichsii, S. konijnenburgiae, S. obscura, S. ovoidea, S. pellucida, S. tomescui, S. wangboi) cannot be placed into any fossil or extant subgenus. The fossils described in this study nearly duplicate the documented record of free-sporing plants from Kachin amber. The abundance and diversity of cryptogams, along with the absence of xerophytes among the taxa, is suggestive of constantly high humidity in the understory of the source forests of this amber.

Diverse temperate forest types and a high atmospheric humidity have recently been suggested for the Eocene source area of Baltic amber. However, ferns are astonishingly rare as inclusions in this amber, which is in contrast to other seed‐free land plants, fungi, and lichens. Moreover, the identities of some of the few described putative fern taxa are dubious, and some fossils were even assigned to the Paleozoic seed fern genera Alethopteris, Pecopteris and to the form genus Sphenopteris containing Paleozoic and Mesozoic fern‐like leaf fossils. Here, we review previously described fern inclusions from Baltic amber and identify further fern‐like leaf inclusions as belonging to the extant angiosperm genus Comptonia (sweet ferns, Myricaceae). We conclude that only one taxon, Matonia striata (Matoniaceae), can with confidence be identified as a Polypodiopsida representative. Although “Pecopteris” humboldtiana is so far only known as sterile foliage, its leaf morphology strongly suggests that also this taxon belongs to the Polypodiopsida rather than to any other tracheophyte lineage. We propose accommodating “Pecopteris” humboldtiana in the new genus Berendtiopteris. “Alethopteris” serrata and “Sphenopteris” phyllocladoides are not to be regarded as evidence of ferns from Baltic amber. Reinvestigation of the holotypes of these two taxa did not reveal to which tracheophyte lineages these fossils belong. We suggest that the scarcity of fern remains from Baltic amber may reflect both a relatively low fern diversity in the source area of the fossil resin, and an absence or rarity of epiphytic and climbing ferns as observed in modern temperate forest ecosystems.

Divergence time estimates suggest that most clades constituting the fern family Pteridaceae (Polypodiales) were in existence by the Early Cretaceous. However, fossil evidence to corroborate this remains exceedingly rare. Burmese amber is an important source of new information on the radiation of derived fern lineages during the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. This study describes Heinrichsia cheilanthoides gen. et sp. nov., a fern with suggested affinities to Pteridaceae, based on fertile foliage portions preserved in Early Cretaceous (~100 Ma) amber from Myanmar. Heinrichsia cheilanthoides is characterized by a pinnate‐pinnatifid frond that bears apical, marginal sori protected by a pseudoindusium. Sporangia are of the polypod type and contain tetrahedral‐globose, trilete spores with a striate perine. This discovery provides a new calibration point to test and refine molecular clock‐based concepts of the evolutionary history of the Pteridaceae. Heinrichsia cheilanthoides further substantiates the suggestion that the Cretaceous forests of Myanmar were home to a rich fern flora.

This study summarizes results of a DNA barcoding campaign on German Diptera, involving analysis of 45,040 specimens. The resultant DNA barcode library includes records for 2,453 named species comprising a total of 5,200 barcode index numbers (BINs), including 2,700 COI haplotype clusters without species‐level assignment, so called “dark taxa.” Overall, 88 out of 117 families (75%) recorded from Germany were covered, representing more than 50% of the 9,544 known species of German Diptera. Until now, most of these families, especially the most diverse, have been taxonomically inaccessible. By contrast, within a few years this study provided an intermediate taxonomic system for half of the German Dipteran fauna, which will provide a useful foundation for subsequent detailed, integrative taxonomic studies. Using DNA extracts derived from bulk collections made by Malaise traps, we further demonstrate that species delineation using BINs and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) constitutes an effective method for biodiversity studies using DNA metabarcoding. As the reference libraries continue to grow, and gaps in the species catalogue are filled, BIN lists assembled by metabarcoding will provide greater taxonomic resolution. The present study has three main goals: (a) to provide a DNA barcode library for 5,200 BINs of Diptera; (b) to demonstrate, based on the example of bulk extractions from a Malaise trap experiment, that DNA barcode clusters, labelled with globally unique identifiers (such as OTUs and/or BINs), provide a pragmatic, accurate solution to the “taxonomic impediment”; and (c) to demonstrate that interim names based on BINs and OTUs obtained through metabarcoding provide an effective method for studies on species‐rich groups that are usually neglected in biodiversity research projects because of their unresolved taxonomy.

Motivation for this comment Recently, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) has sent around a letter, dated 21st April, 2020 to more than 300 palaeontological journals, signed by the President, Vice President and a former President of the society (Rayfield et al. 2020). The signatories of this letter request significant changes to the common practices in palaeontology. With our present, multi-authored comment, we aim to argue why these suggestions will not lead to improvement of both practice and ethics of palaeontological research but, conversely, hamper its further development. Although we disagree with most contents of the SVP letter, we appreciate this initiative to discuss scientific practices and the underlying ethics. Here, we consider different aspects of the suggestions by Rayfield et al. (2020) in which we see weaknesses and dangers. It is our intent to compile views from many different fields of palaeontology, as our discipline is (and should remain) pluralistic. This contribution deals with the aspects concerning Myanmar amber. Reference is made to Haug et al. (2020a) for another comment on aspects concerning amateur palaeontologists/ citizen scientists/private collectors.

Aim: The processes that shaped the West Indian fern flora remain poorly understood. We attempt to investigate earlier biogeographical patterns described for the region using the genus Adiantum as model. These patterns propose that the West Indian fern flora has (1) an essentially continental rather than insular character, having a rich representation of species occurring in tropical America;(2) the Greater Antilles have a higher fern diversity and higher endemism than the Lesser Antilles, and (3) adaptive speciation has been an important process in shaping the fern diversity of the Greater Antilles. Location: West Indies. Methods: Adiantum is a subcosmopolitan genus that comprises 200-225 species of which 33 occur in the West Indies. We compiled the most comprehensive molecular dataset of Adiantum available to date, including the chloroplast markers rbcL, atpA, atpB and trnL-F of 407 accessions belonging to 101 species, 24 of which occur in the West Indies. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference approaches were applied to generate phylogenetic hypotheses. Divergence times were estimated using published substitution rates. Ancestral areas were estimated using BioGeoBEARS. Results: The extant West Indian Adiantum species originate from at least 17 predominantly Miocene immigration events, 11 from South America and six from Central America, in combination with two cladogenetic events. The Cuban endemics Adiantum alomae and A. sericeum, as well as the Greater Antillean A. deltoideum, A. cristatum and A. pyramidale first appeared during the Pleistocene. The emergence of A. alomae and A. deltoideum coincides with the formation of the karstic relief of the Cuban coasts. Main conclusions: Immigration, rather than cladogenesis, governed the evolution of the West Indian Adiantum species. Our results concur with theoretical models proposed for island communities, suggesting that geologically younger and smaller island assemblages mainly derive from immigration, whereas cladogenesis plays an important role in older and larger islands.

Divergence time estimates based on DNA sequence variation of extant species suggest that eupolypod ferns were diverse already in the Cretaceous; however, fossil evidence to support this assumption remains exceedingly rare. Holttumopteris burmensis gen. et sp. nov., a fertile fern foliage fragment preserved in a piece of Albian–Cenomanian Burmese amber from Myanmar, is characterized by divided fertile leaves with catadromous, free lateral veins. Sporangia possess a vertical annulus interrupted by the sporangium stalk and contain monolete spores with a lophate perine. The sporangia occur clustered in discrete sori overarched by a laterally attached, reniform indusium. Reconstruction of ancestral character states suggests affinities of Holttumopteris to the Thelypteridaceae; however, several taxonomically relevant characters are not preserved. This discovery is nevertheless important because H. burmensis represents the first unequivocal fossil of a representative of the eupolypods from the middle Cretaceous.

Polyploidy is widely considered as a major process in the evolution of plants but the accumulation of polyploid species diversity is still controversial. Some recent studies proposed increased extinction risk in neopolyploids compared with their diploid ancestors. The high proportion of polyploid ferns is expected to be formed mainly by neopolyploids, whereas paleopolyploid species are predicted to be clustered in clades founded by whole genome duplications. Here, we test this prediction by exploring the evolution of polyploidy in the derived fern family Aspleniaceae. The family has a global distribution and shows the highest frequency of polyploid taxa among all ferns. To test the hypothesis, we obtained a comprehensive phylogeny using chloroplast DNA sequences of 883 specimens representing 292 species. All published chromosome counts were mapped onto this phylogenetic framework in order to explore the evolution of polyploids. We recovered evidence for several whole genome duplications in the history of Aspleniaceae. Phylogenetic relationships of polyploids exceeding the tetraploid level suggest that tetraploid Asplenium species may have replaced their diploid ancestors as the main evolutionary players in some clades of this family.

Burmese amber is currently the most important source of Cretaceous amber-preserved plants. Recent findings indicate a rich cryptogamic diversity in the source forests of this amber. Besides of liverworts and mosses, several fossils of polypod ferns have been discovered, so far. Here, we report a new fern inclusion from Burmese amber which represents the first leaf fossil of the polypod family Lindsaeaceae. The fossil shows all characteristics of extant Lindsaeaceae, however, it remains unclear if it belongs to an extant or an extinct genus. Along with the sole other Cretaceous Lindsaeaceae fossil, a root fossil from the Albian of North America, the new fossil indicates a wide distribution of this fern family in the Northern Hemisphere during the late Early Cretaceous.

The infrageneric classification of Asplenium, the most species-rich genus of ferns, is notoriously difficult as a result of extensive morphological homoplasy combined with exceptional morphological disparity. Besides a core Asplenium, 29 satellite genera have been described, but most of them have not been widely accepted. In recent years, molecular phylogenetic studies found most of these satellite genera to be nested in Asplenium, but several morphologically distinct taxa have not yet been included in such studies. One of these elements is the monospecific neotropical genus Schaffneria which is characterized by undivided suborbicular blades, lack of a costa, black stipes, netted veins and single or paired sori. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference based on the chloroplast DNA markers rbcL, rps4, rps4-trnS and trnL-trnF indicated a position of Schaffneria nigripes within Asplenium. We thus propose to treat Schaffneria as a synonym of Asplenium and adopt the name Asplenium nigripes. With the current sampling, Asplenium (Schaffneria) nigripes is placed sister to A. pumilum, the only species of Asplenium with whitish catenate hairs on its leaves. Despite considerable morphological differences, both species resemble each other in several features including filiform-lanceolate, mostly entire, brown-blackish rhizome scales with a dark-sclerotic center and some marginal projections, a striate, hairy epidermis, echinolophate spore ornamentation with slim microechinate folds forming small lacunae, and Aspidium-type gametophytes.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Amber, a fossilized angiosperm or conifer tree resin, is a valuable source of new information on the diversity of liverworts in the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. This chapter reviews the fossil record of liverworts in amber, and discusses several problems with regard to the classification of incompletely preserved specimens of these plants. Putative epiphytic species assignable to the order Porellales are disproportionally well represented; other species probably grew on the trunk bases of the resiniferous trees or in their close proximity. Divergence time estimates based on a comprehensive cp DNA dataset of extant liverworts and a root calibration derived from earlier studies yield age intervals that are in good accordance with current taxonomic hypotheses on amber fossils, and provide evidence of a general congruence of both data sources. Lineage-through-time plots indicate the occurrence of increased diversification of the largely epiphytic Porellales since the Cretaceous and a constant accumulation of diversity in the predominantly generalistic sister clade Jungermanniales. These findings underline the prime importance of amber fossils to understand accurately crown group evolution in epiphytic liverwort lineages, and call for the expansion of efforts to find additional fossils of these plants in Cretaceous amber deposits.

RESUMEN La colección de helechos y licófitos cubanos, recolectados por el Hno. Clemente, depositados en el herbario HAC, del Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, cuenta con 1266 ejemplares, representados por 303 especies de 24 familias, las cuales constituyen el 47 % de las especies cubanas conocidas de este grupo de plantas. Esta colección se encuentra, en su mayoría, reunida en la serie NSC, en el herbario HAC, que representa al Herbario de “Nuestra Señora de la Caridad” de Santiago de Cuba, fundado por el propio Hno. Clemente en 1923. El Hno. Clemente visitó 113 localidades entre 1907 y 1951 en todo el país, destacándose la exploración de la Loma del Gato y sus alrededores, a la cual realizó 41 expediciones botánicas. Palabras clave: Hno. Clemente, helechos, licófitos, herbario, colección ABSTRACT Cuban ferns and lycophytes collected by Bro. Clement, conserved in HAC herbarium, Institute of Ecology and Systematics, gather 1266 specimens of 303 species and 24 families, which are 47% of all Cuban known species of this group. This collection mainly belongs to the NSC series, which represents the Herbarium of “Nuestra Señora de la Caridad” of Santiago de Cuba province. This herbarium was founded by Bro. Clement in 1923. He visited 113 Cuban localities between 1907 and 1951, specially the exploration of Loma del Gato and environs, where he carried out 41 botanical expeditions. Keywords: Bro. Clement, ferns, lycophtes, herbarium, collection Recibido: julio 2014 Aceptado: febrero 2015

The monospecific fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae; Polypodiales) occurs exclusively in the tropical forests of the Malay Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the Louisiade Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. Divergence time estimates suggest that the genus originated in the Mesozoic; however, fossil evidence to validate this suggestion has been lacking. Amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber) is an important source of new information on the diversity of vascular cryptogams in the Cretaceous. This paper describes the fossil taxon Cystodium sorbifolioides nov. sp. based on a fragment of a fertile leaf preserved in Burmese amber that represents the first fossil evidence of the family Cystodiaceae. Cystodium sorbifolioides is used to obtain a minimum age estimate for the Cystodiaceae and the closely related, monogeneric Lonchitidaceae and Lindsaeaceae. The fossil strengthens the hypothesis that the forest ecosystems of Malesia and Melanesia represent refugia for many tropical plant lineages that originated in the Cretaceous.

Although a worldwide phylogeny of the bolbitidoid fern genus Elaphoglossum is now available, little is known about the phylogenetic position of the 34 Cuban species. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of a chloroplast DNA dataset for atps-rbcL (including a fragment of the gene atps), rps4-trnS, and trnL-trnF. The dataset included 79 new sequences of Elaphoglossum (67 from Cuba) and 299 GenBank sequences of Elaphoglossum and its most closely related outgroups, the bolbitidoid genera Arthrobotrya, Bolbitis, Lomagramma, Mickelia, and Teratophyllum. We obtained a well-resolved phylogeny including the seven main lineages recovered in previous phylogenetic studies of Elaphoglossum. The Cuban endemic E. wrightii was found to be an early diverging lineage of Elaphoglossum, not a member of E. sect. Squamipedia where it was previously classified. We propose a new section for this species: E. sect. Wrightiana. The early diverging position of E. wrightii is of particular interest because the species is a root climber (i.e., climbing from the soil on the lower portions of tree trunks and not losing its connection with the soil), a growth habit it shares with its closest bolbitidoid outgroup genera. This suggests that holoepiphytism evolved later in Elaphoglossum, and the primary hemiepiphytism of E. amygdalifolium, which is sister to the rest of the genus, was derived independently from ancestors that were root climbers. Based on our phylogenetic analysis and morphological investigations, the species of Cuban Elaphoglossum were found to occur in E. sects. Elaphoglossum, Lepidoglossa, Polytrichia, Setosa, and Squamipedia.

RESUMEN Con el objetivo de contribuir a un mejor conocimiento de la diversidad biológica de la Sierra de la Güira, perteneciente al Área Protegida “Mil Cumbres”, de la provincia de Pinar del Río, se realizó un inventario de los helechos y licófitos con particular interés en las especies endémicas ó amenazadas, que abarcó todas sus formaciones vegetales. Se inventariaron 81 especies, de estas 43 fueron nuevos registros para Sierra de la Güira. Se detectaron cuatro endémicos cubanos: Adiantum melanoleucum var. cubense, Lygodium cubense, Adiantopsis rupicola y Ctenitis melanochlamys. Las dos últimas son especies amenazadas y fueron catalogadas como escasas por ser vistas en solo una localidad durante el trabajo de campo. Dentro del área fueron estudiados: el bosque semideciduo mesófilo, los hoyos intramontanos y los farallones, en el complejo de vegetación de mogotes; así como el pinar, el bosque de galería, la vegetación ruderal, la vegetación de la laguna y de las vías de agua dentro del bosque semideciduo mesófilo y del pinar. De ellos, el bosque semideciduo presentó un mayor número de especies (49%), siendo el modo de vida terrestre, el más frecuente. Palabras clave: helechos, licófitos, inventario, vegetación, endémicos, Güira ABSTRACT With the aim of contributing to a best understanding of biological diversity in the Sierra de La Güira, a mountain range belonging to “Mil Cumbres” protect area of Pinar del Río province, an inventory of fern and lycophytes, emphasizing in the endemic and endangered species, was carried out in all types of vegetation. 81 species were reported; from them, 43 are new reports for Sierra de la Güira. Four Cuban endemics were found: Adiantum melanoleucum var. cubense, Lygodium cubense, Adiantopsis rupicola y Ctenitis melanochlamys. The last two are endangered species and were cataloged as scarce because they were seen once during the field work. Semideciduous forest, pine forest, ravine in semideciduous forest, ravine in the pine forest, gallery forest, intra-montane depressions, cliffs, ruderal vegetation and lacuna vegetation were studied. Semideciduos forest was the vegetal formation with the highest number of species (49%). The most frequent life-form was the terrestrial one. Key words: ferns, lycophytes, inventory, vegetation, endemics, Güira

La lista actual de las series en herbarios cubanos, utilizadas en el banco de datos de la Flora de la República de Cuba, consta de 15 elementos. Este trabajo fue motivado por las confusiones que puede ofrecer el reconocimiento en los ejemplares del número de recolector o el número de serie, lo cual dificulta el llenado correcto de los campos y la estandarización de los datos. A partir del análisis de la información publicada hasta el momento sobre los herbarios cubanos, así como de los datos contenidos en las etiquetas de los ejemplares de herbario y de los libros de registro de las colecciones, se proponen las siguientes modificaciones en la lista de series del banco de datos de la obra Flora de la República de Cuba: reducción de tres acrónimos a uno, adición de 12 nuevas series, para un total de 22 series y el tratamiento de la serie ROIG como herbario HAC-Roig. Palabras clave: serie, herbarios, Flora de Cuba, banco de datos ABSTRACT The present list of series from Cuban herbaria, used in the data set of “Flora de la República de Cuba”, has 15 elements. The aim of this paper is to focus on the revision of this list and the recognition of collector number and series number in the specimen labels. For this purpose, the information published about Cuban herbaria was gathered and the label data of the specimens and the catalogue books of each collection were analyzed. After this revision, we propose the reduction of three acronyms to one, the addition of 12 new series to the list, for the full amount of 22 series in the data set of “Flora de la República de Cuba” and the treatment of ROIG series a-herbarium HAC-Roig. Key words: numbered series, herbaria, Flora of Cuba, data-sets

Morphological, cytological and taxonomical analyses of Asplenium delitescens and A. laetum in Cuba resulted in the recognition of both species belonging to the genus Hymenasplenium Hayata. The combinations of the Neotropical species to this genus are presented. Some remarks on gametophyte morphology of H. delitescens are included.

Sanchez, C., Caluff, M. G., Regalado Gabancho, L. & Morejon, R.: A preliminary evaluation of the current conservation status of Cuban endemic true ferns. — Willdenowia 36 (Special Issue): 491–505. — ISSN 0511-9618; © 2006 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. doi:10.3372/wi.36.36147 (available via http://dx.doi.org/) A preliminary evaluation of the conservation status of 54 Cuban endemic species of Polypodiopsida is presented; 14 are Critically Endangered (CR), 12 Endangered (EN), 9 Vulnerable (VU), 3 Near Threatened (NT) and 16 are Least Concerned (LC). The most common threat is the loss or degradation of the habitat because of agriculture, mining, deforestation and infrastructure development. Distribution and habitat are depicted.

Based on the world distribution of the species of Asplenium occurring in Cuba, a presenceabsence matrix for 17 selected geographical áreas was constructed. This matrix was separately evaluated with the Similarity Index of Sorensen and Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE). The floristic relationships between Cuba and the rest of tropical regions are presented and discussed. Similar results were obtained using both methods. The closest relationships among the Greater Antilles islands were confirmed from the composition of their pteridological floras. The continental affinity of Greater Antilles flora was corroborated. A partir de la distribución mundial de las especies cubanas de Asplenium se confeccionó una matriz de presencia-ausencia de dichas especies en 17 áreas geográficas seleccionadas, sobre la cual se evaluó el índice de similitud de Sorensen y se realizó un Análisis de Parsimonia de Endemismos. Se presentan y discuten las relaciones de afinidad florística entre Cuba y el resto de las regiones tropicales, obteniendo agrupamientos similares a partir de los dos métodos antes mencionados. Se confirma la estrecha relación existente entre las Antillas Mayores, en cuanto a la composición florística de sus floras pteridológicas. Se corrobora el carácter continental de la pteridoflora de las Antillas Mayores.

As a contribution to the taxonomic study of Asplenium L. for the new "Flora de la Republica de Cuba", the spore morphology was studied into three complexes of hardly delimited species. Twenty-two collections have been studied by SEM and eighty-nine by LM. Shape, number of spores per sporangium and perispore ornamentation, specially fine details revealed by scanning electron microscopy, were the most valuable characters in the recognition of taxa. Irregularities in spore shape and size, unusual development of perispore wall surface elements, and collapsed protoplast characterize aborted spores and suggest the occurrence of a possible hybrid species.

Regalado Gabancho, L., Sanchez, C. & Prada, C.: Asplenium veneticolor, a new spleenwort (Aspleniaceae, Pteridophyta) from Cuba. — Willdenowia 36: 871–880. — ISSN 0511-9618; © 2006 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. doi:10.3372/wi.36.36218 (available via http://dx.doi.org/) A new spleenwort from E Cuba is described and illustrated: Asplenium veneticolor. It is closely related to A. dentatum, a widespread species in Cuba. In nature it can be recognised by its distinctive bluish green (Venetian) colour, on dry material moreover by its fertile leaf blades being pinnatifid at apex, with oblong to oblanceolate pinnae. Stem scales, indusia and spores provide additional criteria that support the distinctness of the two taxa.