Leptosporangiate Fern - Discussion of Molecular Classification

Discussion of Molecular Classification

There has been some challenge to the recent molecular studies, claiming that these provide a skewed view of the phylogenetic order because the studies don't take into account fossil representatives. However, the molecular studies have clarified relations among families that were thought to be non-monophyletic before the advent of molecular information, which were left in their non-monophyletic ranks because there was not enough information to do otherwise. The reclassification of ferns using multiple molecular studies, which have generally supported each other, is not any different from classifications of the past—it is the definition of the relations utilizing all the information available. It does not discourage the further study and clarification of the groups, and does not mean that if further study proves the classification wrong, it will not be changed.