Konstantinovia Is Not Monotypic, and a New Attempt to Determine Relationships in Cephaloziellaceae–Scapaniaceae Superclade (Marchantiophyta)

Abstract

The exploration of liverworts on Bering Island (the westernmost Aleutians) has revealed plants assigned to the recently described and previously monotypic Konstantinovia, previously known only from Yunnan Province of China, and belonging to the bigeneric Obtusifoliaceae. The collected plants are described here as Konstantinovia beringii sp. nov. The known localities of two species of Konstantinovia are separated by more than 6000 km, while the presence of the genus on the Commander Islands is probably a relict. Phylogenetic examination of both collected specimens and new material from other related families resulted in the construction of a fairly well-supported phylogenetic tree for the entire Cephaloziellaceae s.l. + Scapaniaceae s.l. clade. The constructed trees have confirmed the previously stated assumption that it is necessary to segregate one more family within this superclade, described here as Oleolophoziaceae fam. nov.