Integrating fossils and molecular data in plant phylogeny

The integration of fossils into dated phylogenies derived from DNA sequences is important for inferring patterns of macroevolution, such as the time of origin of evolutionary lineages. Methods for such integration have been widely applied across the animal tree of life, but the uptake of these methods in plant science is still slow. In this review, I discuss the reasons for this slow adoption, in particular the unique nature of the plant fossil record and the challenges it poses for the integration of fossil and molecular data. After a review of the available tools and techniques — from the construction of morphological matrices to the representation of uncertainty — I highlight successful case studies across major plant lineages. The expansion of this integrative research program, driven by new practices and analytical pipelines, is a promising avenue toward a deeper, more accurate understanding of plant evolutionary history.