A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of and provides novel insights into their systematics and evolutionary history.

The genera and contain ecologically, morphologically and lifestyle diverse fungi in (, ) with a world-wide distribution. Despite previous studies having elucidated that and are highly polyphyletic, the DNA phylogeny of many traditionally morphology-defined species is still poorly resolved, and a comprehensive taxonomic overview of the two genera is lacking. To resolve this issue, we integrate broad taxon sampling strategies and the most comprehensive multi-gene (ITS, LSU, and ) datasets to date, with fossil calibrations to address the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among major lineages of . Two previously recognised main clades, (24 species) and (49 species), were re-affirmed based on our phylogenetic analyses, as well as the phylogenetic position of 15 genera within . In this study, we provide an up-to-date overview on the taxonomy and phylogeny of species belonging to and , as well as detailed descriptions and illustrations of 21 species of which eight are newly described. Furthermore, the divergence time estimates indicate that the crown age of was around 210.37 Mya (95 % HPD: 177.18-246.96 Mya) in the Late Triassic, and that and began to diversify approximately 27.07 Mya (95 % HPD: 20.47-34.37 Mya) and 70.46 Mya (95 % HPD: 56.96-86.24 Mya), respectively. Our results also demonstrate that multigene sequence data coupled with broad taxon sampling can help elucidate previously unresolved clade relationships. : Wei TP, Wu YM, Zhang X, et al. 2024. A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Cephalotrichum and Microascus provides novel insights into their systematics and evolutionary history. Persoonia 52: 119-160. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2024.52.05 .