Phylogeny, historical biogeography and diversification rates in an economically important group of Neotropical palms: Tribe Euterpeae

Publication date: Available online 27 December 2018Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionAuthor(s): Fritz José Pichardo-Marcano, María Esther Nieto-Blázquez, Ashley Nicolle MacDonald, Gloria Galeano, Julissa RoncalAbstractTribe Euterpeae is an economically and ecologically important group of Neotropical palms (Arecaceae). Some species are hyperdominant in the Neotropics, and many constitute a good source of revenue. To reconstruct the biogeographical history and diversification of the Euterpeae, we inferred a robust dated molecular phylogenetic hypothesis including 82% of the species sequenced for five DNA regions (trnD-trnT, CISP4, WRKY6, RPB2, and PHYB). Ancestral range was estimated using all models available in BioGeoBEARS and Binary State Speciation and Extinction analysis was used to evaluate the association of biome and inflorescence type with diversification rates. All intergeneric relationships were resolved providing insight on the taxonomic controversy of Jessenia, Euterpe and Prestoea. Three widely distributed Neotropical species were non-monophyletic, inviting a revision of species circumscriptions. The Euterpeae started its diversification in the mid Eocene (40 Mya), with most species-level divergence events occurring in the last 10 million years. Four colonization events from Central to South America were inferred. Different diversification rates were associated with biomes. Lowland rainforest was inferred as the ancestral biome of Euterpeae, attestin...
Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research