Rhyniopsida

Rhyniopsida is a class of extinct early vascular plants, with one family,

Rhyniopsida
Rhyniaceae, found in the Early Devonian (around 419 to 393 million years ago).
They are polysporangiophytes, since their sporophytes consisted of branched Temporal range: Early Devonian [1]
stems bearing sporangia (spore-forming organs). They lacked leaves or true roots Pre OS D C P T J K Pg N
but did have simple vascular tissue. The group was first placed in a subdivision of
the division Tracheophyta under the name Rhyniophytina[2] (see
Polysporangiophyte: Taxonomy for alternative names). Informally, they are often
called rhyniophytes. More recently the name paratracheophytes has been
suggested, to distinguish such plants from 'true' tracheophytes or
eutracheophytes.[3]

As originally defined, the group was found not to be monophyletic since some of
its members are now known to lack vascular tissue; these have been moved to the
class Horneophytopsida, which is defined as lacking true vascular tissue.
Currently, Rhyniopsida includes the genera Huvenia, Rhynia, and
Stockmansella,[1] all from the Devonian.

One of the most important radiations for land plants occurred in the early
Devonian (Pragian), when the first certain rhyniophytes appear in the fossil
record,[1] making this rich fossil discovery of major importance to paleobotany. It
has been suggested that the poorly preserved Eohostimella, found in deposits of Reconstruction of Rhynia gwynne-
Early Silurian age (Llandovery, around 440 to 430 million years ago), may be a vaughanii[1]
rhyniophyte.[4]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Tracheophytes
Contents
Class: Rhyniopsida
1 Taxonomy Kryshtofovich 1925
2 Phylogeny
Synonyms
3 Rhynie flora
4 See also
Rhyniophyta Cronq., Takhtajan &
5 References
Zimmermann 1966
6 External links
Paratracheophyta

Taxonomy
Subphylum Rhyniophytina Banks 1968[5][6]

Class Rhyniopsida Kryshtofovich 1925 [Rhyniidanae Jeffrey 1967]

Order Rhyniales Nmejc 1950

Family Rhyniaceae Kidston & Lang 1920 [Sciadophytaceae Krausel 1938 nom. rej.]

Genus ?Ambitisporites Hoffmeister 1959 [form taxa- spores]

Genus ?Eocooksonia Doweld 2000
Genus ?Sciadophyton Steinrnann 1930 non Steinmann 1929[form taxa- gametophyte]
 Genus Huvenia Hass & Remy 1991
Genus Rhynia Kidstson & Lang 1917 [Remyophyton Kerp Trewin & Hass 2004 form taxa- gametophyte stem]
Genus Stockmansella Fairon-Demaret 1986 [Stockmansia Fairon-Demaret 1985 non; form taxa- axis]

Phylogeny
In 2004, Crane et al. published a cladogram for the polysporangiophytes in which
the Rhyniaceae are shown as the sister group of all other tracheophytes (vascular
plants).[7] The other former "rhyniophytes", such asHorneophyton and Aglaophyton,
are placed outside the tracheophyte clade, as they did not possess true vascular tissue
(in particular did not have tracheids). However, both Horneophyton and
Aglaophyton have been tentatively classified as tracheophytes in at least one recent
cladistic analysis of Early Devonian land plants.[8]

Partial cladogram by Crane, Herendeen & Friis 2004[7] with emphasis on

Rhyniophytes.
Surface view of a polished piece of
Rhynie chert showing many cross-
sections of Rhynia stems (axes).
Scale bar is 1 cm.

Horneophytopsida

Aglaophyton

Huvenia

polysporangiophytes Rhyniopsida Rhynia

Tracheophyta Stockmansella

Lycopodiophytina and stem groups

Eutracheophytes
Euphyllophytina

(See the Polysporangiophyte article for the expanded cladogram.)

Rhynie flora
The general term "rhyniophytes" or "rhyniophytoids" is sometimes used for the assemblage of plants found in the Rhynie chert
Lagersttte - rich fossil beds in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and roughly coeval sites with similar flora. Used in this way, these terms
refer to a floristic assemblage of more or less related early land plants, not a taxon. Though the rhyniophytes are well represented,
plants with simpler anatomy, like Aglaophyton, are also common; there are also more complex plants, like Asteroxylon, which has a
very early form of leaves.

The Rhynie flora is unusual for the excellent preservation of early vascular plants, in addition to plants transitional between vascular
and non-vascular. The fossils contain sufficient internal detail to determine vascular organization and to distinguish sporangia and
gametangia. This has led to the recognition of species which apparently had an isomorphic alternation of generations (gametophytes
and sporophytes of similar prominence), a condition unknown among land plants today. Because the plants were buried in situ, rather
than after transport to a distant location, important morphological details and ecological information can be obtained. The site also
preserves other organisms such as arthropods andfungi that lived in the Rhynieecosystem.
See also
Polysporangiophytes

References
1. Kenrick, Paul & Crane, Peter R. (1997),The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study
,
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 978-1-56098-730-7
2. Banks, H.P. (1968), "The early history of land plants", in Drake, E.T
., Evolution and Environment: A Symposium
Presented on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Foundation of Peabody Museum of Natural History at
Yale University, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, pp. 73107
3. Gonez, P. & Gerrienne, P. (2010a), "A New Definition and a Lectotypification of the GenusCooksonia Lang 1937",
International Journal of Plant Sciences, 171 (2): 199215, doi:10.1086/648988 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F648988)
4. Niklas, K.J. (1979), "An Assessment of Chemical Features for the Classification of Plant Fossils",
Taxon, 28 (5/6):
505, doi:10.2307/1219787 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1219787)
5. Novkov & Baraba-Krasni (2015). "Modern plant systematics". Liga-Pres: 685.
doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.4745.6164(http
s://doi.org/10.13140%2FRG.2.1.4745.6164). ISBN 978-966-397-276-3.
6. "Part 2- Plantae (starting with Chlorophycota)"(http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera2.html). Collection of genus-group
names in a systematic arrangement. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
7. Crane, P.R.; Herendeen, P. & Friis, E.M. (2004), "Fossils and plant phylogeny"(http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/
91/10/1683), American Journal of Botany, 91 (10): 168399, doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1683(https://doi.org/10.3732%2
Fajb.91.10.1683), PMID 21652317 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652317), retrieved 2011-01-27
8. Hao, Shougang; Xue, Jinzhuang (2013).The Early Devonian Posongchong Flora of Y unnan - A Contribution to an
Understanding of the Evolution and Early Diversification of a
Vscular Plants. Beijing: Science Press. pp. 244245.
ISBN 978-7-03-036616-0.

External links
http://www.palaeos.com/Plants/Rhyniophytes/index.html
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/project/dendrology/index/plantae/vascular/vascular
.html
Cladogram from Crane, Herendeen & Friis 2004

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