A new Transantarctic relationship: morphological evidence for a Rheidae–Dromaiidae–Casuariidae clade (Aves,Palaeognathae, Ratitae)

Although ratites have been studied in considerable detail, avian systematists have been unable to reach a consensus regarding their relationships. Morphological studies indicate a basal split separating Apterygidae from all other extant ratites, and a sister‐group relationship between Rheidae and Struthionidae. Molecular studies have provided evidence for the paraphyly of the Struthionidae and Rheidae, with respect to a clade of Australasian extant ratites. The position of the extinct Dinornithidae and Aepyornithidae also remains hotly debated. A novel pattern of diversification of ratites is presented herein. The phylogenetic analysis is based on 17 taxa and 129 morphological characters, including 77 new characters. The resultant tree yields a sister‐group relationship between New Zealand ratites (Apterygidae plus Dinornithidae) and all other ratites. Within this clade, the Aepyornithidae and Struthionidae are successive sister taxa to a new, strongly supported clade comprising the Rheidae, Dromaiidae, and Casuariidae. The link between South American and Australian biotas proposed here is congruent with numerous studies that have evidenced closely related taxa on opposite sides of the Southern Pacific. These repeated patterns of area relationships agree with current knowledge on Gondwana break‐up, which indicates that Australia and South America remained in contact across Antarctica until the earliest Tertiary. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156 , 641–663.     

Gondwanan radiation of the Southern Hemisphere crayfishes (Decapoda: Parastacidae): evidence from fossils and molecules

Aim The sequential break‐up of Gondwana is thought to be a dominant process in the establishment of shared biota across landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere. Yet similar distributions are shared by taxa whose radiations clearly post‐date the Gondwanan break‐up. Thus, determining the contribution of vicariance versus dispersal to seemingly Gondwanan biota is complex. The southern freshwater crayfishes (family Parastacidae) are distributed on Australia and New Guinea, South America, Madagascar and New Zealand and are unlikely to have dispersed via oceans, owing to strict freshwater limitations. We test the hypotheses that the break‐up of Gondwana has led to (1) a predominately east–west (((Australia, New Zealand: 80 Ma) Madagascar: 160–121 Ma) South America: 165–140 Ma), or (2) a southern (((Australia, South America: 52–35 Ma) New Zealand: 80 Ma) Madagascar: 160–121 Ma) pattern for parastacid crayfish. Further, we examine the evidence for a complete drowning of New Zealand and subsequent colonization by freshwater crayfish. Location Southern Hemisphere. Methods The evolutionary relationships among the 15 genera of Parastacidae were reconstructed using mitochondrial [16S, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI)] and nuclear (18S, 28S) sequence data and maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods of phylogenetic reconstruction. A Bayesian (multidivtime ) molecular dating method using six fossil calibrations and phylogenetic inference was used to estimate divergence time among crayfish clades on Gondwanan landmasses. Results The South American crayfish are monophyletic and a sister group to all other southern crayfish. Australian crayfish are not monophyletic, with two Tasmanian genera, Spinastacoides and Ombrastacoides, forming a clade with New Zealand and Malagasy crayfish (both monophyletic). Divergence of crayfish among southern landmasses is estimated to have occurred around the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (109–178 Ma). Main conclusions The estimated phylogenetic relationships and time of divergence among the Southern Hemisphere crayfishes were consistent with an east–west pattern of Gondwanan divergence. The divergence between Australia and New Zealand (109–160 Ma) pre‐dated the rifting at around 80 Ma, suggesting that these lineages were established prior to the break‐up. Owing to the age of the New Zealand crayfish, we reject the hypothesis that there was a complete drowning of New Zealand crayfish habitat.     

Genome size and chromosome number in the New Zealand species of Schoenus (Cyperaceae)

Schoenus (Cyperaceae) has holocentric chromosomes. Chromosome numbers were counted and nuclear DNA amounts were measured for all the New Zealand species of the genus. Chromosome numbers ranged from 2n = 8 to c. 2n = 90. Two chromosome races, with 2n = 28 and 2n = 56, were found in S. pauciflorus. Flow cytometry using propidium iodide‐stained nuclei was used to measure genome size. A 14.8‐fold variation in 2C DNA content was found, with values ranging from 1.33 to 19.71 pg/2C nucleus. Phylogenetic trees based on sequence variation in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the 45S ribosomal DNA locus were constructed using several phylogenetic models to reveal possible evolutionary relationships among the New Zealand Schoenus spp. and a sample of Australian Schoenus spp. Analysis revealed heterogeneity of chromosome number, size and DNA C value within clades. Meiosis in four species showed only bivalent formation at metaphase I. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 169 , 555–564.     

Morphological phylogenetic analysis of Ophrys (Orchidaceae): insights from morpho‐anatomical floral traits into the interspecific relationships in an unresolved clade

Reconstructing the phylogeny of the sexually deceptive orchid genus Ophrys is crucial to our understanding of the evolution of its complex floral morphology. Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that section Pseudophrys forms a well supported clade with Ophrys bombyliflora, O. tenthredinifera and O. speculum, but were unable to elucidate the relationships between these four groups of taxa. Here we conduct a morphological phylogenetic analysis of this unresolved clade of Ophrys based on a data matrix of 45 macro‐ and micromorphological and anatomical floral characters, using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. Our cladistic analysis yielded a single most parsimonious tree and a Bayesian 50% majority‐rule consensus tree which differed in their overall topology but agreed that O. tenthredinifera and O. bombyliflora are not sister groups. The phylogenetic placement of O. tenthredinifera was ambiguous since it shares six valid synapomorphies each with the cluster of O. speculum–O. bombyliflora and with section Pseudophrys. In contrast, O. bombyliflora is most likely the sister group to O. speculum, a finding that rejects an earlier morphological phylogenetic hypothesis and favours the existing molecular trees based on nuclear ITS rather than plastid data. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 179 , 454–476.     

Molecular phylogenetics of Uvaria (Annonaceae): relationships with Balonga,Dasoclema and Australian species of Melodorum

An extended molecular phylogenetic analysis of Uvaria (Annonaceae) is presented, using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, based on sequences of four plastid DNA regions (matK, psbA‐trnH spacer, rbcL and trnL‐F). The additional taxa include the monotypic West African genus Balonga, the monotypic South‐East Asian genus Dasoclema and seven Australian representatives of the genus Melodorum. The results indicate that all of these taxa are nested within a well‐supported clade otherwise consisting of Uvaria species, indicating that their taxonomic treatment needs to be reassessed. The distinguishing morphological characteristics of the taxa are re‐evaluated and interpreted as specialized adaptations of the basic Uvaria structure. The genus Uvaria is accordingly extended following the transfer of these species, necessitating six new nomenclatural combinations and two replacement names. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 163 , 33–43.     

Support for vicariant origins of the New Zealand Onychophora

Aim The distribution of Onychophora across the southern continents has long been considered the result of vicariance events. However, it has recently been hypothesized that New Zealand was completely inundated during the late Oligocene (25–22 Ma) and therefore that the entire biota is the result of long-distance dispersal. We tested this assumption using phylogenetic and molecular dating of DNA sequence data from Onychophora. Location New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile (South America). Methods We obtained DNA sequence data from the nuclear genes 28S and 18S rRNA to reconstruct relationships among species of Peripatopsidae (Onychophora). We performed molecular dating under a Bayesian relaxed clock model with a range of prior distributions using the rifting of South America and South Africa as a calibration. Results Our phylogenetic trees revealed that the New Zealand genera Ooperipatellus and Peripatoides, together with selected Australian genera (Euperipatoides, Phallocephale and an undescribed genus from Tasmania), form a monophyletic group that is the sister group to genera from Chile (Metaperipatus) and South Africa (Peripatopsis and Opisthopatus). The relaxed clock dating analyses yielded mean divergence times from 71.3 to 78.9 Ma for the split of the New Zealand Peripatoides from their Australian sister taxa. The 0.95 Bayesian posterior intervals were very broad and ranged from 24.5 to 137.6 Ma depending on the prior assumptions. The mean divergence of the New Zealand species of Ooperipatellus from the Australian species Ooperipatellus insignis was estimated at between 39.9 and 46.2 Ma, with posterior intervals ranging from 9.5 to 91.6 Ma. Main conclusions The age of Peripatoides is consistent with long-term survival in New Zealand and implies that New Zealand was not completely submerged during the Oligocene. Ooperipatellus is less informative on the question of continuous land in the New Zealand region because we cannot exclude a post-Oligocene divergence. The great age of Peripatoides is consistent with a vicariant origin of this genus resulting from the rifting of New Zealand from the eastern margin of Gondwana and supports the assumptions of previous authors who considered the Onychophora to be a relict component of the New Zealand biota.     

Late Cenozoic diversification of the austral genus Lagenophora (Astereae,Asteraceae)

Lagenophora (Astereae, Asteraceae) has 14 species in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, southern South America, Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha. Phylogenetic relationships in Lagenophora were inferred using nuclear and plastid DNA regions. Reconstruction of spatio‐temporal evolution was estimated using parsimony, Bayesian inference and likelihood methods, a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock and ancestral area and habitat reconstructions. Our results support a narrow taxonomic concept of Lagenophora including only a core group of species with one clade diversifying in New Zealand and another in South America. The split between the New Zealand and South American Lagenophora dates from 11.2 Mya [6.1–17.4 95% highest posterior density (HPD)]. The inferred ancestral habitats were openings in beech forest and subalpine tussockland. The biogeographical analyses infer a complex ancestral area for Lagenophora involving New Zealand and southern South America. Thus, the estimated divergence times and biogeographical reconstructions provide circumstantial evidence that Antarctica may have served as a corridor for migration until the expansion of the continental ice during the late Cenozoic. The extant distribution of Lagenophora reflects a complex history that could also have involved direct long‐distance dispersal across southern oceans. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 177 , 78–95.     

Comparative phylogenetic analysis reveals long‐term isolation of lineages on the Three Kings Islands,New Zealand

We have used comparative phylogenetic analysis to infer the age and biogeographical origins of the Three Kings Islands insect fauna, an archipelago only 56 km off the northern tip of New Zealand. We densely sampled six insect lineages (five Coleoptera, Brachynopus latus, Brachynopus scutellaris, Tarphiomimus spp., Epistranus lawsoni, and Syrphetodes spp., and one Phasmatodea, Pseudoclitarchus sentus) throughout New Zealand and sequenced mitochondrial DNA to assess phylogenetic relationships and determine ages of haplotype lineages on the Three Kings Islands. We recovered two biogeographical patterns. The first pattern was seen in three taxa, B. latus, Syrphetodes spp., and E. lawsoni, which had sister group relationships between the Three Kings and the adjacent North Cape region at the very northern tip of New Zealand. The second pattern, inferred in P. sentus, B. scutellaris, and Tarphiomimus spp., was where Three Kings lineages had sister groups that were widespread throughout most or all of New Zealand. The divergence dates, estimated using a range of previously estimated substitution rates, ranged from as old as 24 Mya in B. scutellaris to as young as 2.24 Mya in Tarphiomimus. These results are consistent with continual emergent land on the Three Kings Ridge since at least the Miocene and a lack of land connections between the Three Kings Islands and mainland New Zealand during Pleistocene sea‐level lowering. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 108 , 361–377.     

Phylogenetic perspectives on diversification and character evolution in the species‐rich genus Erysimum (Erysimeae; Brassicaceae) based on a densely sampled ITS approach

Erysimum includes 150–350 species distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, with Eurasia being the centre of greatest diversity. It is well known for its taxonomic complexity as a result of overlapping morphological characters. We present the first densely sampled phylogenetic analysis of Erysimum using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA sequences from c. 85% of the species (117 for the first time), representing the full range of morphological variation and geographical distribution. We used several approaches to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships, dating of diversification and patterns of evolution of morphological characters in the genus. Ancestral‐state reconstructions of four morphological diagnostic characters were performed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Our phylogenetic framework strongly supports the monophyly of Erysimum and recovers some well‐supported clades that are geographically, rather than morphologically, correlated. Our study confirms the placement of Erysimum in lineage I and reveals two Malcolmia spp. (M. maritima and M. orsiniana) as its sister taxa. The results suggest that the biennial duration and caespitose habit (vs. annual or perennial duration and herbaceous or woody habit) and large, yellow, glabrous (vs. small, non‐yellow, pubescent) petals are ancestral in Erysimum. The ancestral‐state reconstruction results show that annual vs. perennial and woody vs. herbaceous features have been independently derived several times. The dating analyses suggest an early radiation of Erysimum during the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 175 , 497–522.     

Phylogeography of the whelk genus Cominella (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) suggests long‐distance counter‐current dispersal of a direct developer

The gastropod genus Cominella Gray, 1850 consists of approximately 20 species that inhabit a wide range of marine environments in New Zealand and Australia, including its external territory, the geographically isolated Norfolk Island. This distribution is puzzling, however, with apparently closely‐related species occurring either side of the Tasman Sea, even though all species are considered to have limited dispersal abilities. To determine how Cominella attained its current distribution, we derived a dated molecular phylogeny, which revealed a clade comprising all the Australian and Norfolk Island species nested within four clades of solely New Zealand species. This Australian clade diverged well after the vicariant separation of New Zealand from Australia, and implies two long‐distance dispersal events: a counter‐current movement across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, occurring at the origination of the clade, followed by the colonization of Norfolk Island. The biology of Cominella suggests that the most likely method of long‐distance dispersal is rafting as egg capsules. Our robust phylogeny also means that the current Cominella classification requires revision. We propose that our clades be recognized as subgenera: Cominella (s.s.), Cominista, Josepha, Cominula, and Eucominia, with each subgenus comprising only of New Zealand or Australian species. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 115 , 315–332.     

Few genetic differences between Victorian and Western Australian blue penguins,Eudyptula minor

Abstract

Blue penguins, Eudyptula minor, breeding on Penguin Island, Western Australia are considerably larger than other blue penguins in Australia. If genetic isolation is the cause, it may have implications for the conservation status of some blue penguin populations. We compared the sequences of two mitochondrial gene regions (cytochrome‐b and the control region) from Western Australian blue penguins with other populations of blue penguins from Australia and New Zealand. We found few differences between sequences from Western Australia, Phillip Island, Victoria and Otago, New Zealand, although all three differed considerably from other New Zealand blue penguins. Sequences for the control region from the Western Australian blue penguins and 30 more birds breeding at various Australasian sites provided further support for two major clades within Eudyptula; an Australian clade (including Otago) and a New Zealand clade.     

Phylogenetics and biogeography of the parasitic genus Thesium L. (Santalaceae), with an emphasis on the Cape of South Africa

Thesium is a large genus of parasitic shrubs belonging to tribe Thesieae of Santalaceae. It has a principally Old World distribution, with the greatest diversity being found in southern Africa. Little is known about the relationships within Thesium or its relationships with its closest relatives. In this article, we present a first estimate of species‐level phylogenetic relationships in Thesium based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and trnL–trnF sequence data, and use this to explore the biogeographical history of the group. One hundred and four samples representing 72 Thesium spp. were included in a phylogenetic analysis. Plastid and combined data resolve Thesium as paraphyletic relative to Thesidium and Austroamericium with high posterior probability and bootstrap support. ITS sequence data place Thesidium as sister to a large Thesium clade, but with weak support. Ancestral range reconstruction and dating analysis suggest a southern African origin for the group, with a crown age of 39.1 ± 11.9 Mya, followed by dispersal into Europe and South America. A large clade of Cape species split in the Miocene from a clade comprising tropical species (25.5 ± 7.3 Mya) with the diversification of extant species beginning at 16.7 ± 6.3 Mya. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 162 , 435–452.     

Chloroplast DNA evidence for the evolution of Microseris (Asteraceae) in Australia and New Zealand after long-distance dispersal from western North America

Restriction site mutations and trnL(UAA)-trnF(GAA) intergenic spacer length variants in the chloroplast genome were used to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among 53 Australian and New Zealand Microseris populations and to assess their position within their primarily North American genus. The study was performed to enhance understanding of evolutionary processes within this unique example of intercontinental dispersal and subsequent adaptive radiation. A southern blot method using four-base restriction enzymes and fragment separation on polyacryamide gels resulted in 55 mutations of which 30 were potentially phylogenetically informative. Most mutations were small indels of <162 bp, 80% of which were <20 bp. The small indels were useful for phylogenetic reconstruction of Australasian Microseris as judged by the high consistency indexes. The results confirmed the monophyly of the Australian and New Zealand Microseris. The occurrence of “hard” basal polytomies in the most parsimonious trees indicated that rapid radiation has occurred early in the history of the taxon. The monophyly of M. lanceolata, which includes the self-incompatible ecotypes of the Australian mainland, was confirmed. Within this species three clades were found that reflect more geographic distribution than morphological entities, suggesting that migration and possibly introgression between different ecotypes, or parallel evolution of similar adaptations, has occurred. One of the three clades was supported by a 162-bp deletion in the trnL-trnF spacer, while a subgroup of this exhibited also a tandemly repeated trnF exon. The data were inconclusive about the monophyly of the second Australasian species, M. scapigera, which comprises the New Zealand, Tasmanian, and autofertile ecotypes of Australia.     

New Zealand geckos (Diplodactylidae): Cryptic diversity in a post-Gondwanan lineage with trans-Tasman affinities

We used a multi-gene approach to assess the phylogenetic relationships of New Zealand diplodactylid geckos to their Australian and New Caledonian relatives and to one another. Data from nuclear (RAG-1, PDC) and mitochondrial (ND2, 16S) genes from >180 specimens representing all 19 recognized New Zealand taxa and all but two of 20 putatively new species suggested by previous studies were analyzed using Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference. All analyses retrieved a monophyletic New Zealand clade, most closely related to the Australian Diplodactylidae exclusive of Pseudothecadactylus. Hoplodactylus is paraphyletic and composed of two morphological groups: a broad-toed clade, consisting of the island-restricted, largest extant species, Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, and the species-rich, wide-ranging Hoplodactylus maculatus clade; and a narrow-toed clade, comprising five monophyletic subgroups: Naultinus, the Hoplodactylus pacificus and Hoplodactylus granulatus clades, and the distinctive species Hoplodactylus rakiurae and Hoplodactylus stephensi. Each of these lineages is here recognized at the generic level. Our data support recognition of 16 new species (36 total), and five new or resurrected genera (seven total). The New Zealand diplodactylid radiation split from its Australian relatives 40.2mya (95% highest posterior density estimate 28.9-53.5), after the opening of the Tasman Sea. Their distribution cannot, therefore, be regarded as derived as a result of Gondwanana vicariance. The age of the New Zealand crown group, 24.4mya (95% highest posterior density estimate 15.5-33.8), encompasses the period of the 'Oligocene drowning' of New Zealand and is consistent with the hypothesis that New Zealand was not completely inundated during this period. Major lineages within New Zealand geckos diverged chiefly during the mid- to late Miocene, probably in association with a suite of geological and climatological factors that have characterized the region's complex history.     

When molecules and morphology concur: the ‘Gondwanan’ midges (Diptera: Chironomidae)

A phylogeny of the Chironomidae subfamily Podonominae, significant in the history of phylogenetic biogeography, is estimated from an analysis of four genes. Fragments of two ribosomal genes (18S and 28S), one nuclear protein‐coding gene (CAD), and one mitochondrial protein‐coding gene (COI) were sequenced from specimens representing 13 of 15 genera, and analysed using mixed model Bayesian and maximum likelihood inference methods. Podonominae is monophyletic and sister to Tanypodinae – the shared development of the larval ligula is synapomorphic and diagnostic. Tribe Podonomini is monophyletic with the inclusion of Trichotanypus; tribe Boreochlini is a grade. Monophyly is confirmed for the genera Podonomus Philippi, Podonomopsis Brundin, Podochlus Brundin, Archaeochlus Brundin and Austrochlus Cranston, Edward & Cook: Parochlus Enderlein becomes monophyletic through the inclusion of Zelandochlus Brundin ( n.syn. ) with its type species, P. latipalpis (Brundin) n.comb. The ‘mandibulate’Archaeochlus plus Austrochlus is monophyletic with nonmandibulate Afrochlus weakly supported as a member of, or sister to, the African Archaeochlus. Subtending this group is Lasiodiamesa, although it associates in some analyses with the sister group Tanypodinae. Generic relationships coincide with those proposed based on morphology, particularly as understood via all life history stages of some problematic (autapomorphic, adult‐based) taxa. Divergence time analysis (beast ) allows inference of Mesozoic diversification of higher taxa in Podonominae, of appropriate timing for fragmentation of Gondwana, post‐African divergence, to have caused vicariance. Shallower nodes (within genera) imply both younger vicariance involving Antarctica and some recent dispersal, including southern to northern hemisphere movement in the New World. New Zealand taxa test controversial biogeographical relationships and show proximity to southern South America without direct Australian sister taxon pairs: dating implies persistence of midges through the ‘Oligocene’ bottleneck.     

Historical biogeography of Australian Rhamnaceae, tribe Pomaderreae

Aim To discover the pattern of relationships of areas of endemism for Australian genera in the plant family Rhamnaceae tribe Pomaderreae for comparison with other taxa and interpretation of biogeographical history. Location Australian mainland, Tasmania and New Zealand. Methods A molecular phylogeny and geographic distribution of species within four clades of Pomaderreae are used as a basis for recognition of areas of endemism and analysis of area relationships using paralogy‐free subtrees. The taxon phylogeny is the strict consensus tree from a parsimony analysis of 54 taxa, in four clades, and sequence data for the internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA (ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2) and the plastid DNA region trnL‐F. Results The biogeographical analysis identified five subtrees, which, after parsimony analysis, resulted in a minimal tree with 100% consistency and seven resolved nodes. Three sets of area relationships were identified: the areas of Arnhem and Kimberley in tropical north Australia are related based on the phylogeny of taxa within Cryptandra; the moister South‐west of Western Australia, its sister area the coastal Geraldton Sandplains, the semi‐arid Interzone region and arid Western Desert are related, based on taxa within Cryptandra, Spyridium, Trymalium and Pomaderris; and the eastern regions of Queensland, McPherson‐Macleay, south‐eastern New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, southern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand are related based on Cryptandra, Pomaderris and Spyridium. Tasmania and NSW are related based entirely on Cryptandra, but the position of New Zealand relative to the other south‐eastern Australian regions is unresolved. Main conclusions The method of paralogy‐free subtrees identified a general pattern of geographic area relationships based on Australian Pomaderreae. The widespread distribution of clades, the high level of endemicity and the age of fossils for the family, suggest that the Pomaderreae are an old group among the Australian flora. Their biogeographical history may date to the early Palaeogene with subsequent changes through to the Pleistocene.     

The phylogenetic placement and biogeographical origins of the New Zealand stick insects (Phasmatodea)

The Lanceocercata are a clade of stick insects (Phasmatodea) that have undergone an impressive evolutionary radiation in Australia, New Caledonia, the Mascarene Islands and areas of the Pacific. Previous research showed that this clade also contained at least two of the nine New Zealand stick insect genera. We have constructed a phylogeny of the Lanceocercata using 2277 bp of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data to determine whether all nine New Zealand genera are indeed Lanceocercata and whether the New Zealand fauna is monophyletic. DNA sequence data were obtained from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II and the nuclear large subunit ribosomal RNA and histone subunit 3. These data were subjected to Bayesian phylogenetic inference under a partitioned model and maximum parsimony. The resulting trees show that all the New Zealand genera are nested within a large New Caledonian radiation. The New Zealand genera do not form a monophyletic group, with the genus Spinotectarchus Salmon forming an independent lineage from the remaining eight genera. We analysed Lanceocercata apomorphies to confirm the molecular placement of the New Zealand genera and to identify characters that confirm the polyphyly of the fauna. Molecular dating analyses under a relaxed clock coupled with a Bayesian extension to dispersal‐vicariance analysis was used to reconstruct the biogeographical history for the Lanceocercata. These analyses show that Lanceocercata and their sister group, the Stephanacridini, probably diverged from their South American relatives, the Cladomorphinae, as a result of the separation of Australia, Antarctica and South America. The radiation of the New Caledonian and New Zealand clade began 41.06 million years ago (mya, 29.05–55.40 mya), which corresponds to a period of uplift in New Caledonia. The main New Zealand lineage and Spinotectarchus split from their New Caledonian sister groups 33.72 (23.9–45.62 mya) and 29.9 mya (19.79–41.16 mya) and began to radiate during the late Oligocene and early Miocene, probably in response to a reduction in land area and subsequent uplift in the late Oligocene and early Miocene. We discuss briefly shared host plant patterns between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Because Acrophylla sensu Brock & Hasenpusch is polyphyletic, we have removed Vetilia Stål from synonymy with Acrophylla Gray.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Tulipa (Liliaceae) based on noncoding plastid and nuclear DNA sequences with an emphasis on Turkey

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships in Tulipa in Turkey using DNA sequences from the plastid trnL‐trnF region and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA. We generated trnL‐trnF and nuclear ITS sequences for 11 Tulipa spp. from Turkey and compared the utility of trnL‐trnF and ITS sequences for phylogenetic analysis. Neighbor‐joining, Bayesian and maximum parsimony methods were implemented using the same matrices. Our study of Tulipa based on molecular data revealed congruent results with previous studies. Despite the relatively lower resolution of trnL‐trnF than that of ITS, both sequence matrices generated similar results. Three clades were clearly distinguished, corresponding to subgenera Tulipa, Eriostemones and Orithyia. It is not fully resolved whether Clusianae should be recognized as a separate section of subgenus Tulipa or a distinct subgenus. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 172 , 270–279.     

Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae) is not monophyletic: taxonomic implications for Thymelaeoideae and a partial new generic taxonomy for Gnidia

We address the generic limits of Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae) through a phylogenetic analysis of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and plastid rbcL, trnL intron and trnL‐F intergenic spacer regions. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference were used to produce trees and assess internal support. The most significant conclusion drawn from the molecular analysis is that Gnidia is polyphyletic as currently circumscribed, comprising at least four distinct lineages that are each related to other genera within Thymelaeoideae. Gnidia pinifolia and G. racemosa are members of a clade within which Struthiola is embedded; a second group of species allies with Drapetes as sister to Passerina; and a third lineage corresponds to the previously recognized genus Lasiosiphon. The remaining species of Gnidia included in this study are allied with the Australian genus Pimelea. The taxonomic implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the principle of monophyly. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160 , 402–417.