scholarly journals A fully resolved backbone phylogeny reveals numerous dispersals and explosive diversifications throughout the history of Asteraceae

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (28) ◽  
pp. 14083-14088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Mandel ◽  
Rebecca B. Dikow ◽  
Carolina M. Siniscalchi ◽  
Ramhari Thapa ◽  
Linda E. Watson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Range Shift ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Flowering Plant Species ◽  
Patterns And Processes

The sunflower family, Asteraceae, comprises 10% of all flowering plant species and displays an incredible diversity of form. Asteraceae are clearly monophyletic, yet resolving phylogenetic relationships within the family has proven difficult, hindering our ability to understand its origin and diversification. Recent molecular clock dating has suggested a Cretaceous origin, but the lack of deep sampling of many genes and representative taxa from across the family has impeded the resolution of migration routes and diversifications that led to its global distribution and tremendous diversity. Here we use genomic data from 256 terminals to estimate evolutionary relationships, timing of diversification(s), and biogeographic patterns. Our study places the origin of Asteraceae at ∼83 MYA in the late Cretaceous and reveals that the family underwent a series of explosive radiations during the Eocene which were accompanied by accelerations in diversification rates. The lineages that gave rise to nearly 95% of extant species originated and began diversifying during the middle Eocene, coincident with the ensuing marked cooling during this period. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses support a South American origin of the family with subsequent dispersals into North America and then to Asia and Africa, later followed by multiple worldwide dispersals in many directions. The rapid mid-Eocene diversification is aligned with the biogeographic range shift to Africa where many of the modern-day tribes appear to have originated. Our robust phylogeny provides a framework for future studies aimed at understanding the role of the macroevolutionary patterns and processes that generated the enormous species diversity of Asteraceae.

scholarly journals Slowly but surely: gradual diversification and phenotypic evolution in the hyper-diverse tree fern family Cyatheaceae

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Oriane Loiseau ◽  
Anna Weigand ◽  
Sarah Noben ◽  
Jonathan Rolland ◽  
Daniele Silvestro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Tree Fern ◽  
Rates Of Evolution ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rapid Diversification ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Diverse Groups

Abstract Background and Aims The tremendously unbalanced distribution of species richness across clades in the tree of life is often interpreted as the result of variation in the rates of diversification, which may themselves respond to trait evolution. Even though this is likely a widespread pattern, not all diverse groups of organisms exhibit heterogeneity in their dynamics of diversification. Testing and characterizing the processes driving the evolution of clades with steady rates of diversification over long periods of time are of importance in order to have a full understanding of the build-up of biodiversity through time. Methods We studied the macroevolutionary history of the species-rich tree fern family Cyatheaceae and inferred a time-calibrated phylogeny of the family including extinct and extant species using the recently developed fossilized birth–death method. We tested whether the high diversity of Cyatheaceae is the result of episodes of rapid diversification associated with phenotypic and ecological differentiation or driven by stable but low rates of diversification. We compared the rates of diversification across clades, modelled the evolution of body size and climatic preferences and tested for trait-dependent diversification. Key Results This ancient group diversified at a low and constant rate during its long evolutionary history. Morphological and climatic niche evolution were found to be overall highly conserved, although we detected several shifts in the rates of evolution of climatic preferences, linked to changes in elevation. The diversification of the family occurred gradually, within limited phenotypic and ecological boundaries, and yet resulted in a remarkable species richness. Conclusions Our study indicates that Cyatheaceae is a diverse clade which slowly accumulated morphological, ecological and taxonomic diversity over a long evolutionary period and provides a compelling example of the tropics as a museum of biodiversity.

scholarly journals The origins and Paleogene history of modern plant communities

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 113-113
Author(s):  
David R. Greenwood ◽  
Margaret E. Collinson
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Middle Latitude ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Middle Latitudes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Temperature Seasonality

Modern plant communities define global Biomes by their structure, floristics and physiognomy. The modern distribution and character of plant communities is determined by climate, large-scale biotic interactions and abiotic factors such as fire and other disturbance history. Biogeographic patterns also reflect past continental movements, dispersal, extinction and speciation events. The past distribution and history of the principal modern plant communities can be traced using key taxa and associations of taxa, and the foliar physiognomy of the biomal communities.The antecedents of many modern types of vegetation can be found in the mixed plant communities of the Cretaceous and earlier. Late Cretaceous angiosperm radiation and K/T extinctions substantially altered these plant communities, setting preconditions for subsequent evolution and the floristic character of terrestrial plant communities. Paleocene vegetation appears intermediate, and the main phase of floristic modernisation appears to have been during the Eocene.Tropical rainforests and deciduous forests of a modern aspect are well represented in Eocene macrofloras at middle and higher palaeolatitudes respectively, in North America, Europe and Australia. These forests partly reflected present day phytogeographic provincialism but many taxa exhibited past cosmopolitanism, having much reduced modern ranges. The presence of “tropical” forests at middle latitudes, well outside their present day latitudinal extent, reflects the Early to Middle Eocene thermal maximum with widespread equable, humid and subhumid climates. At higher latitudes macrofloras reflect deciduous angiosperm vegetation of lower diversity than the middle latitude rainforests. Deciduousness in these forests was probably an adaptation to seasonal darkness beyond the palaeo-Arctic circle, but at intermediate latitudes may have reflected adaptation to greater temperature seasonality. Coniferous forests are represented in Eocene macrofloras from high latitudes and from uplands in the middle latitudes. Grasses are present in some Eocene macrofloras, but grasslands do not appear in the fossil record until the Oligocene or later. They seem to be a response to climatic deterioration and an evolving mammalian biota. Forested and herbaceous wetland communities may have been more diverse and latitudinally more uniform in the Palaeogene than today, but are otherwise quite modern. Post Oligocene history of most plant communities is that of climate altered distribution and floristic extinction.

scholarly journals Evolution of Dispersal, Habit, and Pollination in Africa Pushed Apocynaceae Diversification After the Eocene-Oligocene Climate Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássia Bitencourt ◽  
Nicolai M. Nürk ◽  
Alessandro Rapini ◽  
Mark Fishbein ◽  
André O. Simões ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Dispersal ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Plant Families ◽  
Climate Transition

Apocynaceae (the dogbane and milkweed family) is one of the ten largest flowering plant families, with approximately 5,350 species and diverse morphology and ecology, ranging from large trees and lianas that are emblematic of tropical rainforests, to herbs in temperate grasslands, to succulents in dry, open landscapes, and to vines in a wide variety of habitats. Despite a specialized and conservative basic floral architecture, Apocynaceae are hyperdiverse in flower size, corolla shape, and especially derived floral morphological features. These are mainly associated with the development of corolline and/or staminal coronas and a spectrum of integration of floral structures culminating with the formation of a gynostegium and pollinaria—specialized pollen dispersal units. To date, no detailed analysis has been conducted to estimate the origin and diversification of this lineage in space and time. Here, we use the most comprehensive time-calibrated phylogeny of Apocynaceae, which includes approximately 20% of the species covering all major lineages, and information on species number and distributions obtained from the most up-to-date monograph of the family to investigate the biogeographical history of the lineage and its diversification dynamics. South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia (potentially including Oceania), were recovered as the most likely ancestral area of extant Apocynaceae diversity; this tropical climatic belt in the equatorial region retained the oldest extant lineages and these three tropical regions likely represent museums of the family. Africa was confirmed as the cradle of pollinia-bearing lineages and the main source of Apocynaceae intercontinental dispersals. We detected 12 shifts toward accelerated species diversification, of which 11 were in the APSA clade (apocynoids, Periplocoideae, Secamonoideae, and Asclepiadoideae), eight of these in the pollinia-bearing lineages and six within Asclepiadoideae. Wind-dispersed comose seeds, climbing growth form, and pollinia appeared sequentially within the APSA clade and probably work synergistically in the occupation of drier and cooler habitats. Overall, we hypothesize that temporal patterns in diversification of Apocynaceae was mainly shaped by a sequence of morphological innovations that conferred higher capacity to disperse and establish in seasonal, unstable, and open habitats, which have expanded since the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition.

Current knowledge of the family Cardiliidae (Bivalvia, Mactroidea)

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-145
Author(s):  
Javier H. Signorelli ◽  
J.G.M. (Han) Raven
Keyword(s):  
External Surface ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Adductor Muscle ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Eastern Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Range Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Western Pacific

AbstractThe family Cardiliidae has been scarcely studied. It was historically placed in the superfamily Mactroidea. Members of this family are characterized by a cordiform shell with a typical mactrid hinge, posterior adductor muscle placed into a myophore and three ornamental areas on the external surface of the shell. Six extant and 14 exclusively fossil species have been previously mentioned in the literature as belonging to the genusCardilia. The geographical distribution, stratigraphic range, type material and type locality of each extant and fossil species are provided. In this work, four extant species and 11 exclusively fossil species belonging to the genusCardiliaare recognized. Extant species are from the western Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and eastern Atlantic Ocean, while fossil taxa are recorded from deposits of middle Eocene to late Pliocene in Europe and Asia,. One of them is formally described herein asCardilia edwardsinew species.

The physiological ecology of land invasion by the Talitridae (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

1987 ◽  
Vol 232 (1266) ◽  
pp. 95-124 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Physiological Ecology ◽  
Regulatory Constraints ◽  
Systematic Scheme ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
The Family ◽  
Terrestrial Environments ◽  
History Of

Bousfield’s phylogenetic–systematic scheme (Bernice P. Bishop Mus.spec. Publ . no. 72 (1984)) for the family Talitridae has given renewed impetus to comparative physiological studies on representatives of his different morphological groupings within this, the only amphipod family with truly terrestrial constituents. Our comparative review of talitrid physiology presented here reveals the ecological adaptation of extant species. This has been set against Bousfield’s view of the evolutionary history of the group in an attempt to produce a comprehensive and realistic organismic biology. The beachflea and sandhopper genera are highly modified for life in the supralittoral zone. The former group has given rise to euterrestrial amphipods which are to a certain extent physiologically pre-adapted for more rigorous terrestrial environments. Their success, however, compared with a more ancient landhopper group that invaded land directly (via the leaf litter of newly established angiosperm rainforests in the Cretaceous) may have been limited not solely by desiccation stress but also by more severe osmo- or iono-regulatory constraints.

scholarly journals A morphological study of vertebral centra in extant species of pike, Esox (Teleostei: Esociformes)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Sinjini Sinha ◽  
Don B Brinkman ◽  
Alison M. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Morphological Study ◽  
Vertebral Column ◽  
Early History ◽  
Vertebral Centra ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
History Of

            Isolated centra of members of the Esocidae occur frequently in vertebrate microfossil localities of Late Cretaceous and early Paleocene age and are an important source of data on the early history of the family. However, morphological variation along the vertebral column can lead to incorrect interpretations of diversity if they are not recognized. To facilitate the use of centra for interpreting the diversity and distribution of esocids in Cretaceous vertebrate microfossil localities, the variation along the column in five extant species of esocids is described. Comparison with Cretaceous centra referred to the Esocidae allows identification of a series of features in which species of Esox differ from basal members of the family. These include the presence of a mid-ventral groove bordered by a pair of low budges on centra in the anterior end of the column, and antero-lateral processes on the posterior abdominal and anterior caudal centra. These differences provide a basis for recognizing early occurrences of the genus Esox in the fossil record and thus will allow centra to be used to document the timing of origin of the genus.

scholarly journals Pythons in the Eocene of Europe reveal a much older divergence of the group in sympatry with boas

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 20200735
Author(s):  
Hussam Zaher ◽  
Krister T. Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North American ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Allopatric Distribution ◽  
History Of

Extant large constrictors, pythons and boas, have a wholly allopatric distribution that has been interpreted largely in terms of vicariance in Gondwana. Here, we describe a stem pythonid based on complete skeletons from the early-middle Eocene of Messel, Germany. The new species is close in age to the divergence of Pythonidae from North American Loxocemus and corroborates a Laurasian origin and dispersal of pythons. Remarkably, it existed in sympatry with the stem boid Eoconstrictor . These occurrences demonstrate that neither dispersal limitation nor strong competitive interactions were decisive in structuring biogeographic patterns early in the history of large, hyper-macrostomatan constrictors and exemplify the synergy between phylogenomic and palaeontological approaches in reconstructing past distributions.

The history of Cunoniaceae in Australia from macrofossil evidence

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Barnes ◽  
Robert S. Hill ◽  
Jason C. Bradford
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Widespread Distribution ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Vegetation Disturbance ◽  
Late Paleocene ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
Early Cenozoic

The macrofossil record of the plant family Cunoniaceae in Australia is summarised and reviewed where necessary by using detailed studies of the morphology of extant genera. Eleven of the 26 Cunoniaceae genera are represented in the Australian macrofossil record and include leaves and leaf fragments, foliar cuticle and reproductive structures, and range from Late Paleocene to Quaternary in age. Macrofossils show that some genera had a different or more widespread distribution in Australia during the Cenozoic, with two genera (Weinmannia and Codia) having become extinct from the continent. Changes in climate, including increasing cold, frost, dryness, seasonality, or some combination of these, or a reduction in vegetation disturbance regimes (e.g. volcanism, uplifting, landslips), may be implicated in the regional or continental extinctions demonstrated by the macrofossil record. Many extant genera (Schizomeria, Vesselowskya, Callicoma, Ceratopetalum, Acsmithia, Codia) had evolved by the Early Oligocene or earlier (Eucryphia, Late Paleocene; Ceratopetalum, Middle Eocene), perhaps with generic diversification more or less complete by the end of the Early Cenozoic or earlier. A Cretaceous origin of the family is possible, and may account for its widespread distribution on Southern Hemisphere landmasses, although long-distance dispersal events are required to explain some modern geographic disjunctions.

scholarly journals Tiny pollen grains: first evidence of Saururaceae from the Late Cretaceous of western North America

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friðgeir Grímsson ◽  
Guido W. Grimm ◽  
Reinhard Zetter
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Pollen Morphology ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Eurasia

Background The Saururaceae, a very small family of Piperales comprising only six species in four genera, have a relatively scanty fossil record outside of Europe. The phylogenetic relationships of the four genera to each other are resolved, with the type genus Saururus occurring in both eastern North America and East Asia. No extant species occurs in western Eurasia. The most exceptional find so far has been an inflorescence with in-situ pollen, Saururus tuckerae S.Y.Sm. & Stockey from Eocene of North America with strong affinities to extant species of Saururus. Recent dated trees suggest, however, an Eocene or younger crown age for the family. Methods Dispersed fossil pollen grains from the Campanian (82–81 Ma) of North America are compared to dispersed pollen grains from the Eocene strata containing S. tuckerae, the Miocene of Europe, and extant members of the family using combined LM and SEM imaging. Results The unambiguous fossil record of the Saururaceae is pushed back into the Campanian (82–81 Ma). Comparison with re-investigated pollen from the Eocene of North America, the Miocene of Europe, and modern species of the family shows that pollen morphology in Saururaceae is highly conservative, and remained largely unchanged for the last 80 million years. Discussion Campanian pollen of Saururaceae precludes young (Eocene or younger) estimates for the Saururaceae root and crown age, but is in-line with maximum age scenarios. Saururus-type pollen appear to represent the primitive pollen morphology of the family. Often overlooked because of its small size, dispersed Saururaceae pollen may provide a unique opportunity to map the geographic history of a small but old group of Piperales, and should be searched for in Paleogene and Cretaceous sediment samples.

scholarly journals Middle to Late Paleocene Leguminosae fruits and leaves from Colombia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiany Herrera ◽  
Mónica R. Carvalho ◽  
Scott L. Wing ◽  
Carlos Jaramillo ◽  
Patrick S. Herendeen
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Late Paleocene ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Northern South America

Leguminosae are one of the most diverse flowering-plant groups today, but the evolutionary history of the family remains obscure because of the scarce early fossil record, particularly from lowland tropics. Here, we report ~500 compression or impression specimens with distinctive legume features collected from the Cerrejón and Bogotá Formations, Middle to Late Paleocene of Colombia. The specimens were segregated into eight fruit and six leaf morphotypes. Two bipinnate leaf morphotypes are confidently placed in the Caesalpinioideae and are the earliest record of this subfamily. Two of the fruit morphotypes are placed in the Detarioideae and Dialioideae. All other fruit and leaf morphotypes show similarities with more than one subfamily or their affinities remain uncertain. The abundant fossil fruits and leaves described here show that Leguminosae was the most important component of the earliest rainforests in northern South America c. 60–58 million years ago.

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