Menispermaceae and the diversification of tropical rainforests near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.
New Phytol
; 195(2): 470-478, 2012 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22548458
ABSTRACT
⢠Modern tropical rainforests have the highest biodiversity of terrestrial biomes and are restricted to three low-latitude areas. However, the actual timeframe during which tropical rainforests began to appear on a global scale has been intensely disputed. Here, we used the moonseed family (Menispermaceae), an important physiognomic and structural component of tropical rainforests on a worldwide basis, to obtain new insights into the diversification of this biome. ⢠We integrated phylogenetic, biogeographic and molecular dating methods to analyse temporal and spatial patterns of global diversification in Menispermaceae. ⢠Importantly, a burst of moonseed diversification occurred in a narrow window of time, which coincides with the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Our data also suggest multiple independent migrations from a putative ancestral area of Indo-Malay into other tropical regions. ⢠Our data for Menispermaceae suggest that modern tropical rainforests may have appeared almost synchronously throughout the three major tropical land areas close to, or immediately following, the K-Pg mass extinction.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Chuva
/
Árvores
/
Clima Tropical
/
Menispermaceae
/
Biodiversidade
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article