Phylogeny and DNA taxonomy of derived liverworts
Frullania dilatata, a leafy liverwort in the Frullaniaceae family
The current focus of this project is on the diversification of Porellales, especially the species-rich families Frullaniaceae, Lejeuneaceae, and Porellaceae.
The two main research approaches involve:
- Estimating the diversification times of this major diversification of leafy liverworts and exploring the hypotheses of post-Permian, Cretaceous, and post-Mesozoic diversification events.
- Exploring DNA taxonomy as the way forward in liverwort taxonomy.
Project collaborator:
Jochen Heinrichs at the Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany