A phylogenetic study was carried out to investigate the ordinal relationships within mosses based on analysis of a large-scale data set including 601 sequences of mosses of the chloroplast ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) gene. Results of the present study suggested that: (1) Sphagnales is the most basal lineage with in mosses; (2) Andreaeobryales is sister to the remaining mosses and the orders Andreaeales, Tetraphidales and Polytrichales, and the family Oedipodiaceae configure a basal clade within mosses, sister to a large clade with all exemplars of the Bryopsida; (3) within Bryopsida, the Buxbaumiaceae (Buxbaumiales), is the most basal lineage and the Diphysciaceae is sister to the large clade of arthrodontous mosses; (4) within the arthrodontous mosses, the Timmiaceae and Gigaspermaceae together form the most basal lineage, and the clade with the orders Funariales and Encalyptales is sister to the haplolepidous and diplolepidous mosses; (5) the Dicranidae includes exemplars of Grimmiales, Archidiales, Dicranales, and Pottiales; (6) the Bryidae includes the Bartramiaceae as basal lineage followed by Hedwigiales as sister to the remaining diplolepidous mosses; and (7) a clade that includes Rhizogoniales, Splachnales, and Orthotrichales is sister to the large group of Bryales, Hookeriales, and Hypnales. Character state optimization suggests that diplolepidous-opposite peristome structure maybe ancestral to both Bryidae and Dicranidae.

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