Building the monocot tree of death: Progress and challenges emerging from the macrofossil-rich Zingiberales.

Premise Of The Study: Inclusion of fossils in phylogenetic analyses is necessary in order to construct a comprehensive "tree of death" and elucidate evolutionary history of taxa; however, such incorporation of fossils in phylogenetic reconstruction is dependent on the availability and interpretation of extensive morphological data. Here, the Zingiberales, whose familial relationships have been difficult to resolve with high support, are used as a case study to illustrate the importance of including fossil taxa in systematic studies.

Methods: Eight fossil taxa and 43 extant Zingiberales were coded for 39 morphological seed characters, and these data were concatenated with previously published molecular sequence data for analysis in the program MrBayes.

Species diversity driven by morphological and ecological disparity: a case study of comparative seed morphology and anatomy across a large monocot order.

Phenotypic variation can be attributed to genetic heritability as well as biotic and abiotic factors. Across Zingiberales, there is a high variation in the number of species per clade and in phenotypic diversity. Factors contributing to this phenotypic variation have never been studied in a phylogenetic or ecological context.

Seed morphology and anatomy and its utility in recognizing subfamilies and tribes of Zingiberaceae.

Premise Of The Study: Recent phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data suggested that the monocot family Zingiberaceae be separated into four subfamilies and four tribes. Robust morphological characters to support these clades are lacking. Seeds were analyzed in a phylogenetic context to test independently the circumscription of clades and to better understand evolution of seed characters within Zingiberaceae.

A new technique to prepare hard fruits and seeds for anatomical studies.

Premise Of The Study: A novel preparation technique was developed to examine fruits and seeds of plants with exceptionally hard or brittle tissues that are very difficult to prepare using standard histological techniques.

Methods And Results: The method introduced here was modified from a technique employed on fossil material and has been adapted for use on fruits and seeds of extant plants. A variety of fruits and seeds have been prepared with great success, and the technique will be useful for any excessively hard fruits or seeds that are not able to be prepared using traditional embedding or sectioning methods.