Protobarinophyton

Protobarinophyton was a genus of Silu-Devonian land plant with branching axes. It is placed in a group of early vascular plants (tracheophytes), the barinophytes, a group that has been given various ranks and scientific names.

Protobarinophyton Temporal range: Early Devonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	†Barinophytes
Genus:	†Protobarinophyton Ananiev (1955)
Type species
Protobarinophyton obrutschevii (Ananiev 1954) Ananiev (1955)
Species
†P. timanicum Petrosjan 1968 †P. obrutschevii (Ananiev 1954) Ananiev (1955) †P. o. f. minutum Petrosjan (1962) †P. o. f. mucronatum Petrosjan (1962)

Phylogeny

Kenrick and Crane in 1997 placed the genus Protobarinophyton along with two species of Barinophyton in the Barinophytaceae in their Sawdoniales, well nested within the zosterophylls.^[1] A summary cladogram produced by Crane et al. in 2004, shows Protobarinophyton in the core of a paraphyletic stem group of broadly defined zosterophylls, basal to the lycopsids (living and extinct clubmosses and relatives).^[2]

lycophytes

† Hicklingia  †basal groups  Adoketophyton, Discalis, Distichophytum (=Rebuchia), Gumuia, Huia, Zosterophyllum myretonianum, Z. llanoveranum, Z. fertile  †'core' zosterophylls  Zosterophyllum divaricatum, Tarella, Oricilla, Gosslingia, Hsua, Thrinkophyton, Protobarinophyton, Barinophyton obscurum, B. citrulliforme, Sawdonia, Deheubarthia, Konioria, Anisophyton, Serrulacaulis, Crenaticaulis  †basal groups  Nothia, Zosterophyllum deciduum  lycopsids  extant and extinct members

The phylogenetic position of the barinophytes remains disputed. Taylor et al. in 2009 considered the barinophytes to be possible lycopsids rather than zosterophylls.^[3] Hao and Xue in 2013 suggested that they were not lycopsids, instead falling between this group and the euphyllophytes.^[4]