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Hornwort Biology and Systematics
February 26, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Saturdays, February 19 & 26, March 5, 12, & 19 @ 1:00 — 3:00 p.m.
Instructor: Juan Carlos Villarreal Aguilar
Tuition Cost: $175
Hornworts represent the smallest phylum among land plants, with only 220 species. Despite the reduced species number, they have a fascinating biology and hold clues on the evolution of symbiotic interactions and chloroplast evolution. Most of the diversity of hornworts is found in tropical and subtemperate areas from the Americas and Asia (especially India and China). Despite the evolutionary and, recently, genomic importance of the group, the taxonomy remains challenging and little known.
This seminar will provide an introduction to the diversity of hornworts, with focus on the American continents (from Canada to Patagonia) and Europe. We will first identify study the morphology and anatomy of hornworts and discuss last decade studies on morphology, phylogenetics, symbiosis, systematics, and genomics. Then, we will focus on the regions of interest, giving special attention to genera and species present. The participant will be guided through the taxonomical literature available for regional taxa, and the morphological particularities when using the few available keys. To dive into the hornworts, we will explore their great variety, exploring their most common species in different substrates and ecosystems, including páramos, montane, premontane rain forest, and lowland tropical rain forest. This seminar will use zoom for interactive lectures by way of power point presentations. The seminar will provide a deep knowledge of this fascinating group of plants and discover why they have become important and popular in the field of evolutionary biology!
• Participants need to have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us ; sign-up is free). They will receive a secure link to join the seminar before it begins.
• Individual classes will be recorded and made available to stream (not download) for the duration of the seminar by its participants, so they are able to review them or make up missed ones.
