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A re-evaluation of the genus Chaetomidium using molecular and morphological characters.

     ¹ Department of Botany, The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605-2496, United States of America
² University Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Tarragona, 43201, Spain
³ Section for Biodiversity, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States of America
⁴ Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605-2496, United States of America

Chaetomidium, a genus in the Chaetomiaceae, comprises twelve species that produce similar cleistothecial ascomata with a membranous, mostly pilose peridium. Approximately six species of this genus produce some type of modified peridium composed of cephalothecoid plates that previous authors have hypothesized to be a homologous character within the genus. To better understand the phylogenetic affiliations of Chaetomidium and distribution of the cephalothecoid peridium within this genus we performed phylogenetic analyses using LSU, β-tubulin, and rpb2 sequence data. The results of these analyses showed that Chaetomidium is polyphyletic and should be restricted to its type, C. fimeti, and C. subfimeti. The remaining cephalothecoid and non-cephalothecoid species were scattered throughout the Chaetomiaceae and Lasiosphaeriaceae. The cephalothecoid species of Chaetomidium were distributed in three unrelated clades, suggesting that the morphological similarity among these particular species resulted from convergence rather than ancestry.

Key words: Cephalothecoid, Chaetomiaceae, Phylogeny, Sordariales, Systematics