Talk:Trimerophytopsida

Name of article

Because the classification of early land plants is in such a flux at present, it's not clear what rank to choose for the title of the article. Checking what has been done for groups considered at the same level as the trimerophytes, namely the rhyniophytes and the zosterophylls, it seems that Division Tracheophyta, Class Trimerophytopsida is the most consistent and fits best with other taxonomic hierarchies.

The exact name is also an issue. The modern understanding of the trimerophytes comes from Banks (1975). He established the group as a subdivision with the name Trimerophytina, based on the genus Trimerophyton. Note that he did not use the name Trimerophytophytina. Article 16.4 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code) allows the "phyton" part of a genus name optionally to be omitted before "-ophyta", "-ophytina" and "-opsida". Precedent does not operate above family level, so Banks does not have to be followed exactly, but if the group is to be treated as a class the name "Trimeropsida" would be most consistent. However, a check of both Google and Google Scholar shows that "Trimerophytopsida" is much more commonly used than "Trimeropsida", so this is the name I've chosen. Peter coxhead (talk) 22:56, 2 March 2011 (UTC)