Pleurozia is the only genusofliverworts in the familyPleuroziaceae, which is now classified in its own order Pleuroziales, but was previously included in a broader circumscription of the Jungermanniales.[3] The genus includes twelve species,[4][5] and as a whole is both physically distinctive and widely distributed.[6]
The lower leaf lobes of Pleurozia species are fused, forming a closed water sac covered by a movable lid similar in structure to those of the angiosperm genus Utricularia. These sacs were assumed to play a role in water storage, but a 2005 study on Pleurozia purpurea found that the sacs attract and trap ciliates, much in the same way as Utricularia. Observations of plants in situ also revealed a large number of trapped prey within the sacs, suggesting that the species in this genus obtain some benefit from a carnivorous habit. After Colura, this was the second report of zoophagy among the liverworts.[7]
^Dumortier, B. C. (1835). Recueil d'observations sur les Jungermanniacées. Vol. fasc. 1. Tournay. pp. 1–27.
^Müller, K. (1909). Die Lebermoose Deutschlands, Oesterreichs und der Schweiz, mit Berücksichtigung der übrigen Länder Europas. Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen-Flora. Leipzig.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Schuster, Rudolf M. (1966). The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Vol. I. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 381–384.
^Thiers, Barbara M. (1993). "A Monograph of Pleurozia (Hepaticae; Pleuroziaceae)". The Bryologist. 96 (4): 517–554. doi:10.2307/3243984. JSTOR3243984.
^Jones, E. W. (2004). Liverwort and Hornwort Flora of West Africa. Scripta Botanica Belgica. Vol. 30. Meise: National Botanic Garden (Belgium). pp. 197–198. ISBN90-72619-61-7.
^Hess, Sebastian; Frahm, Jan-Peter; Theisen, Inge (2005). "Evidence of zoophagy in a second liverwort species, Pleurozia purpurea". The Bryologist. 108 (2): 212–218. doi:10.1639/6. S2CID85079354.
