Ceratopteris [SEP] parent taxon
family Parkeriaceae, thought to be unique because of its aquatic adaptations. However, recent genetic analysis has shown it to be clearly allied with "Acrostichum", within the Pteridaceae.
Species.
At one time, some authorities recognized only one species; now some authorities recognize only four species. However, recent work by Masuyama and Watano " has suggested that C. thalictroides" actually consists of four cryptic species ("thalictroides", "froesii", "gaudichaudii", "oblongibloba").
- "Ceratopteris
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of