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Phylogenetic analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the chloroplast protein coding generps4 were performed for 225 species of mosses, representing 84% of families recognized by Vitt (1984. In: Schuster RM, ed. New manual of bryology, vol 2. Nichinan: Hattori Botanical Laboratory), under the criterion of maximum parsimony with Takakia and Sphagnum as outgroups. Most parsimonious topologies converge to a scenario wherein the Andreaeidae are monophyletic and sister to the Bryidae (peristomate mosses), the Nematodonteae and the Buxbaumiaceae form a monophyletic lineage, the Diphysciaceae are sister to the Arthrodonteae and, within the latter, the Funarineae-Encalyptineae-Timmiaceae-Haplolepideae compose a monophyletic clade sister to remaining diplolepideous mosses. This hypothesis suggests that early in the evolution of the Arthrodonteae, two major lineages diverged, with …