Davydov & al. • Umbilicariaceae phylogeny TAXON 66 (6) • December 2017: 1282–1303 Umbilicariaceae (lichenized Ascomycota) – Trait evolution and a new generic concept Evgeny A. Davydov,1 Derek Peršoh2 & Gerhard Rambold3 1 Altai State University, Lenin Ave. 61, Barnaul, 656049 Russia 2 Ruhr-Universität Bochum, AG Geobotanik, Gebäude ND 03/170, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany 3 University of Bayreuth, Plant Systematics, Mycology Dept., Universitätsstraße 30, NW I, 95445 Bayreuth, Germany Author for correspondence: Evgeny A. Davydov,
[email protected] ORCID EAD, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2316-8506; DP, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5561-0189 DOI https://doi.org/10.12705/666.2 Abstract To reconstruct hypotheses on the evolution of Umbilicariaceae, 644 sequences from three independent DNA regions were used, 433 of which were newly produced. The study includes a representative fraction (presumably about 80%) of the known species diversity of the Umbilicariaceae s.str. and is based on the phylograms obtained using maximum likelihood and a Bayesian phylogenetic inference framework. The analyses resulted in the recognition of eight well-supported clades, delimited by a combination of morphological and chemical features. None of the previous classifications within Umbilicariaceae s.str. were supported by the phylogenetic analyses. The distribution of the diagnostic morphological and chemical traits against the molecular phylogenetic topology revealed the following patterns of evolution: (1) Rhizinomorphs were gained at least four times independently and are lacking in most clades grouping in the proximity of Lasallia. (2) Asexual reproductive structures, i.e., thalloconidia and lichenized dispersal units, appear more or less mutually exclusive, being restricted to different clades.