A new phylogeny of the cladoxylopsid plexus: contribution of an early cladoxylopsid from the Lower Devonian (Emsian) of Quebec.

Premise: Cladoxylopsids formed Earth's earliest forests and gave rise to the ancestors of sphenopsids and ferns. Lower Devonian (Emsian) strata of the Battery Point Formation (Quebec, Canada) contain new anatomically preserved cladoxylopsids, one of which is described in this article. To assess the phylogenetic position of this fossil and address questions of cladoxylopsid phylogeny, we conducted a comprehensive phylogenetic study.