ere traditionally considered a class within the division Bryophyta (bryophytes). Later on, the bryophytes were considered paraphyletic, and hence the hornworts were given their own division, Anthocerotophyta (sometimes misspelled Anthocerophyta). However, the most recent phylogenetic evidence leans strongly towards bryophyte monophyly,[excessive citations] and it has been proposed that hornworts are de-ranked to the original class Anthocerotopsida. Traditionally, there was a single class of hornworts, called Anthocerotopsida, or older Anthocerotae. More recently, a second class Leiosporocertotopsida has been segregated for the singularly unusual species Leiosporoceros dussii. All other hornworts remain in the class Anthocerotopsida. These two classes are divided further into five orders, each containing a single family. Among land plants, hornworts are one of the earliest-diverging lineages of the early land plant ancestors; cladistic analysis implies that the group originated prior to the Devonian