alga to pteridophyte

[Curtis Clark]

At 12:48 PM 8/17/99 -0700, Ken Kinman wrote:
>Susan and Curtis,
>      I am wondering if you are talking about somewhat different events.
I
>would be interested in clarifications from either of you, whether you are
>talking about (1) an alga evolving "directly" into a pteridophyte; or (2)
>evolving  "indirectly", i.e. an alga evolving first into bryophyte
>intermediate forms, and then the latter evolving into pteridophytes.
>      The traditional view is "indirect" (green algae to charophyte algae
>to
>bryophytes to pteridophytes).  But I believe Anthony Miklausen's 1997 book
>proposes "direct" evolution of brown algae (phaeophytes) into
>pteridophytes.
>  I am wondering if Curtis is referring to the latter.

I was referring to a single speciation event leading from a green alga to a
fern. I'm not familiar with Miklausen's work, but, despite the remarkable
convergence in some aspects between phaeophytes and vascular plants, there
are many, many lines of evidence that refute that hypothesis.


----------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Biological Sciences Department             Voice: (909) 869-4062
California State Polytechnic University      FAX: (909) 869-4078
Pomona CA 91768-4032  USA                  jcclark at csupomona.edu