Biogeography and evolution of the Galapagos: integration of the biological and geological evidence

Biogeographic tracks are mapped for Galapagos endemics representing 25 plant and animal taxa and including organisms with good and poor means of dispersal. These patterns confirm standard biogeographic tracks linking Galapagos with Central America, western North and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Australasia. Discovery of the Galapagos Gore in the 1970s corroborates the biogeographic prediction for a major tectonic centre associated with the Galapagos. The biogeographic model developed by Croizat in 1958 of Galapagos colonization involving an ancestral biota inhabiting eastern Pacific geosynclinal forelands is congruent with plate tectonic models supporting a Pacific island arc origin for western American terranes. American relatives of Galapagos endemics may have originated within an eastern Pacific paleogeography rather than representing centres of origin for dispersal to the Galapagos. Galapagos colonization by an eastern Pacific biota between late Cretaceous and mid-Tertiary has significant implications for understanding the tempo and mode for both the origins of island biota and general models of evolutionary differentiation. Popular assertions that overwater dispersal represents the only viable origin for the entire Galapagos biota is no longer biogeographically or geologically tenable.     

Phylogenetic structure and biogeography of the Pacific Rim clade of Sphagnum subgen. Subsecunda: haploid and allodiploid taxa

Although it is an uncommon distribution in seed plants, many bryophytes occur around the Pacific Rim of north‐western North America and eastern Asia. This work focuses on a clade of peatmosses (Sphagnum) that is distributed around the Pacific Rim region, with some individual species found across the total range. The goals were to infer divergent phylogenetic relationships among haploid species in the clade, assess parentage of allopolyploid taxa, and evaluate alternative hypotheses about inter‐ and intraspecific geographical range evolution. Multiple data sets and analyses resolved an ‘Alaska’ clade, distributed across western North America, eastern China and Japan, and an ‘Asia’ clade that includes western Chinese, Thai, Korean, eastern Chinese and Japanese lineages. Allopolyploids have arisen at least four times in the Pacific Rim clade of Sphagnum subgen. Subsecunda; it appears that all allopolyploid origins involved closely related haploid parental taxa. Biogeographical inferences were impacted by topological uncertainty and especially by the biogeographical model utilized to reconstruct ancestral areas. Most analyses converge on the conclusion that the ancestor to this clade of Pacific Rim Sphagnum species was widespread from Alaska south to eastern Asia, but a northern origin for the Alaska subclade was supported by one of the two biogeographical models we employed, under which it was robust to phylogenetic uncertainty.     

Globally basal centres of endemism: the Tasman-Coral Sea region (south-west Pacific), Latin America and Madagascar/South Africa

The New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) are basal in passerine birds and in New Caledonia, the closest country to New Zealand, Amborella is basal in angiosperms. A review of molecular studies indicates that 29 other locally or regionally endemic clades around the Tasman and Coral Sea basins have cosmopolitan or globally widespread sister groups. Other areas that have local endemics basal to diverse global groups include Borneo, Madagascar/South Africa/Tanzania, southern China–Taiwan–Japan, and different parts of Latin America, especially the Guayana Plateau and western Mexico. Basal clades are widely interpreted as ancestral and their location is generally taken to represent a centre of origin for the group as a whole. In the present study, basal groups are treated simply as small (less speciose) sister groups. The Tasman and western Mexico/Caribbean regions have important biogeographic and tectonic ties with each other and with the central Pacific. Large igneous provinces (Ontong Java, Hikurangi‐Manihiki, and Gorgona Plateaus) formed in the central Pacific in the Cretaceous. Fossil wood is found on the Ontong Java Plateau, and formerly emergent seamounts up to 24 km across occur on Hikurangi Plateau. Many terranes in New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Guinea and western America represent former island arcs (or their products) that formed in the central Pacific and later accreted to the Pacific margins. Long‐term survival of taxa as metapopulations on the ephemeral volcanic islands and atolls of plate margins and fissures may explain the biogeographical connections among the Tasman region, the central Pacific, and the accreted terranes of western America. Branching sequences in cladograms and phylogenetic trees have been interpreted as dispersal events, but instead probably indicate the sequence of differentiation in an already widespread ancestor. Major disjunctions of tens of thousands of kilometres often occur between taxa at consecutive nodes on a tree and dispersal by physical movement is unlikely. The break between the globally basal centres and the rest of the world marks the initial site of differentiation of a widespread ancestor, with subsequent or more or less simultaneous differentiation occurring in other areas. Differentiation of the modern angiosperms, passerines and other groups first took place around the Tasman region, or at least the terranes now accumulated there, and then around other centres, especially Madagascar–South Africa and Mexico–north‐west South America. Angiosperms are now recognized as basal to extant gymnosperms and major tectonic dynamism around the globally basal centres during the Mesozoic, involving terrane accretion, orogeny, and rifting could have been involved with the last important modernization of angiosperms, birds and other groups. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96 , 222–245.     

Biogeographical and geological evidence for a smaller, completely-enclosed Pacific Basin in the Late Cretaceous

Aim To use biogeographical, palaeomagnetic, palaeosedimentary, and plate circuit data from Late Cretaceous regions in and around the Pacific to test the plate tectonic hypothesis of a pre‐Pacific superocean. Location East Asia, Australia, Antarctica, the western Americas, and the Pacific. Methods Literature surveys of the distributions of Cretaceous, circum‐Pacific taxa were compared with palaeomagnetic and palaeosedimentary data. Uncontroversial plate motions based on seafloor spreading data were also used to test the results of the biogeographical and palaeomagnetic analyses. Results The distributions of Cretaceous terrestrial taxa, mostly dinosaurs, imply direct, continental connections between Australia and East Asia, East Asia and North America, North America and South America, South America and Antarctica, and Antarctica and Australia. Palaeomagnetic, palaeosedimentary, and basic plate circuit analyses require little to no latitudinal motion of the Pacific plate with respect to the surrounding continents. Specifically, the data implies that western North America, East Asia, and the Pacific plate all increased in latitude by roughly the same amount (c. 11 ± 5°) since the Campanian – and that the Pacific Ocean Basin has increased in length north‐to‐south. Main conclusions Each of the analyses provides independent corroboration for the same conclusion: the Late Cretaceous Pacific plate was completely enclosed by the surrounding continents and has not experienced significant latitudinal motion with respect to North America, East Asia, or the Bering land bridge. This contrasts significantly with the plate tectonic history of the Pacific, implying instead that the Pacific plate formed in situ, pushing the continents apart as the plate and basin expanded. These results also substantiate recent biogeographical analyses that have concluded that a narrower Pacific Ocean Basin in the Mesozoic and early Tertiary provides the most reasonable explanation for the great number of trans‐Pacific disjunctions of poor dispersing taxa.     

基于序列trnL-trnF和ITS的榉属系统发育与地理分布格局的初步分析

榉属(Zelkova)是包含6个种的榆科小属, 呈东亚、西亚和南欧间断分布。该文基于DNA序列trnL-trnF和ITS构建了榉属的分子系统发育树, 大体上把此属分为3个分支, 分别对应东亚、西亚和南欧的种类, 与前人仅依据ITS序列的结果不同。生物地理的扩散和隔离分化分析(DIVA)表明, 榉属的原始祖先分布区可能是欧亚北温带, 包括了东亚、西亚和南欧的某个大的区域。分化过程以隔离分化为主要特征, 即3个分布区域是逐步隔离分化的。由于东亚的物种多样性, 北太平洋有可能是起源中心。榉属的现代分布格局可能主要是由于渐新世发生的古地中海西退、中新世发生的青藏高原大范围隆升, 以及第四纪冰川活动引起的分布区的收缩。     

Study on the Floristic Composition Similarity of Mangrove Among Their Global Distribution Regions

Based on set theory, the similarity and disparity indices among plant distribution regions were defined with the Jaccard’s similarity index. The similarity among six mangrove distribution regions in the world was analysed. The results showed that the region most similar to the eastern coast of Africa was the coast of Oceania, the region most similar to the coast of Asia and the eastern Pacific Archipelago was the coast of Oceania, the region most similar to the western coast of America was the western coast of Africa, the region most similar to the western coast of Africa was the eastern coast of America. By cluster analysis of the six mangrove distribution regions, the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of America, the coast of Asia and eastern Pacific Archipelago and the coast of Oceania, were merged into two large regions respectively. The six mangrove distribution regions were further merged into two large regions which were consistent with the east central group and the west central group.     

The trans-Pacific zipper effect: disjunct sister taxa and matching geological outlines that link the Pacific margins

Aim To combine analyses of trans‐Pacific sister taxa with geological evidence in order to test the hypothesis of the existence of a Panthalassa superocean. Location The study is concerned with taxa, both fossil and extant, from East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. Methods Phylogenetic and distributional analyses of trans‐Pacific biota were integrated with geological evidence from the Pacific and circum‐Pacific regions. Results A series of recent biogeographical analyses delineates a zipper‐like system of sister areas running up both margins of the Pacific, with each section of western North and South America corresponding to a particular section from East Asia/Australia/New Zealand. These sister areas coincide neatly with a jigsaw‐like fit provided by the matching Mesozoic coastlines that bracket the Pacific. Main conclusions The young age (<200 Myr) of oceanic crust, the matching Mesozoic circum‐Pacific outlines, and a corresponding system of interlocking biogeographical sister areas provide three independent avenues of support for a closed Pacific in the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic. The hypothesis of the existence and subsequent subduction of the pre‐Pacific superocean Panthalassa is not only unnecessary, it conflicts with this evidence. Panthalassa‐based paleomaps necessitate the invention of dozens of additional hypotheses of species‐dependent, trans‐oceanic dispersal events, often involving narrow‐range taxa of notoriously limited vagility, in order to explain repeated examples of the same biogeographical pattern. Removing the vanished‐superocean hypothesis reunites both the matching geological outlines and all the disjunct sister taxa. In brief, what appears to be a multi‐era tangle of convoluted, trans‐oceanic distributions on Panthalassa‐based paleomaps is actually a relatively simple biogeographical pattern that is explainable by a single vicariant event: the opening and expansion of the Pacific.     

Historical biogeography and phenotype‐phylogeny of Chroodiscus (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales: Graphidaceae)

Aim To analyse the historical biogeography of the lichen genus Chroodiscus using a phenotype‐based phylogeny in the context of continental drift and evolution of tropical rain forest vegetation. Location All tropical regions (Central and South America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, north‐east Australia). Methods We performed a phenotype‐based phylogenetic analysis and ancestral character state reconstruction of 14 species of the lichen genus Chroodiscus, using paup * and mesquite ; dispersal–vicariance analysis (DIVA) and dispersal–extinction–cladogenesis (DEC) modelling to trace the geographical origin of individual clades; and ordination and clustering by means of pc‐ord , based on a novel similarity index, to visualize the biogeographical relationships of floristic regions in which Chroodiscus occurs. Results The 14 species of Chroodiscus show distinctive distribution patterns, with one pantropical and one amphi‐Pacific taxon and 12 species each restricted to a single continent. The genus comprises four clades. DIVA and DEC modelling suggest a South American origin of Chroodiscus in the mid to late Cretaceous (120–100 Ma), with subsequent expansion through a South American–African–Indian–Southeast Asian–Australian dispersal route and late diversification of the argillaceus clade in Southeast Asia. Based on the abundance of extant taxa, the probability of speciation events in Chroodiscus is shown to be extremely low. Slow dispersal of foliicolous rain forest understorey lichens is consistent with estimated phylogenetic ages of individual species and with average lengths of biological species intervals in fungi (10–20 Myr). Main conclusions The present‐day distribution of Chroodiscus can be explained by vicariance and mid‐distance dispersal through the interconnection or proximity of continental shelves, without the need for recent, trans‐oceanic long‐distance dispersal. Phylogenetic reconstruction and age estimation for Chroodiscus are consistent with the ‘biotic ferry’ hypothesis: a South American origin and subsequent eastward expansion through Africa towards Southeast Asia and north‐eastern Australia via the Indian subcontinent. The present‐day pantropical distributions of many clades and species of foliicolous lichens might thus be explained by eastward expansion through continental drift, along with the evolution of modern rain forests starting 120 Ma, rather than by the existence of a hypothetical continuous area of pre‐modern rain forest spanning South America, Africa and Southeast Asia during the mid and late Cretaceous.     

West Wind Drift revisited: testing for directional dispersal in the Southern Hemisphere using event-based tree fitting

Aim Recent studies suggest that if constrained by prevailing wind or ocean currents dispersal may produce predictable, repeated distribution patterns. Dispersal mediated by the West Wind Drift (WWD) and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (AAC) has often been invoked to explain the floristic similarities of Australia, South America and New Zealand. If these systems have been important dispersal vectors then eastward dispersal – from Australia to New Zealand and the western Pacific to South America – is expected to predominate. We investigate whether phylogenies for Southern Hemisphere plant groups provide evidence of historical dispersal asymmetry and more specifically whether inferred asymmetries are consistent with the direction of the WWD/AAC. Location Southern Hemisphere. Methods We assembled a data set of 23 published phylogenies for plant groups that occur in New Zealand, Australia and/or South America. We used parsimony‐based tree fitting to infer the number and direction of dispersals within each group. Observed dispersal asymmetries were tested for significance against a distribution of expected values. Results Our analyses suggest that dispersal has played a major role in establishing present distributions and that there are significant patterns of asymmetry in Southern Hemisphere dispersal. Consistent with the eastward direction of the WWD/ACC, dispersal from Australia to New Zealand was inferred significantly more often than in the reverse direction. No significant patterns of dispersal asymmetry were found between the western Pacific landmasses and South America. However, eastward dispersal was more frequently inferred between Australia and South America, while for New Zealand–South American events westward dispersal was more common. Main conclusions Our results suggest that eastward circumpolar currents have constrained the dispersal of plants between Australia and New Zealand. However, the WWD/ACC appear to have had less of an influence on dispersal between the western Pacific landmasses and South America. This observation may suggest that differences in dispersal mechanism are important – direct wind or water dispersal vs. stepping‐stone dispersal along the Antarctic coast. While our analyses provide useful preliminary insights into dispersal asymmetry in the Southern Hemisphere we will need larger data sets and additional methodological advances in order to test fully these dispersal patterns and infer processes from phylogenetic data.     

The mahogany family "out-of-Africa": divergence time estimation, global biogeographic patterns inferred from plastid rbcL DNA sequences, extant, and fossil distribution of diversity

With information on fossils and extant distribution of diversity/endemism in the mahogany family, we perform a global biogeographic study of Meliaceae using plastid rbcL data for all subfamilies, tribes and nearly all genera. Our study indicates that: (1) Meliaceae are of western Gondwanan origin; (2) dispersal played an important role for the current distribution of mahogany biota; and (3) the direction of dispersal was most likely an "out-of-Africa" scenario with important dispersal routes across Eurasia and between Eurasia and North America provided by Beringia and the North Atlantic land bridge and North America and South America via island chains and/or direct land connections. Populations in North America, Europe, and East Asia were presumably eliminated as tropical climates disappeared from these areas during the Miocene. Extensive Meliaceae fossil findings confirm that the entry of megathermal (frost-intolerant) angiosperms into southern continents from Oligocene to Pliocene must be considered as an important means of establishing pantropical distribution patterns.     

Dynamic colonization exchanges between continents and islands drive diversification in paradise‐flycatchers (Terpsiphone,Monarchidae)

Aim We use parametric biogeographical reconstruction based on an extensive DNA sequence dataset to characterize the spatio‐temporal pattern of colonization of the Old World monarch flycatchers (Monarchidae). We then use this framework to examine the role of dispersal and colonization in their evolutionary diversification and to compare plumages between island and continental Terpsiphone species. Location Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean. Methods We generate a DNA sequence dataset of 2300 bp comprising one nuclear and three mitochondrial markers for 89% (17/19) of the Old World Monarchidae species and 70% of the Terpsiphone subspecies. By applying maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods and implementing a Bayesian molecular clock to provide a temporal framework, we reveal the evolutionary history of the group. Furthermore, we employ both Lagrange and Bayes‐ Lagrange analyses to assess ancestral areas at each node of the phylogeny. By combining the ancestral area reconstruction with information on plumage traits we are able to compare patterns of plumage evolution on islands and continents. Results We provide the first comprehensive molecular phylogenetic reconstruction for the Old World Monarchidae. Our phylogenetic results reveal a relatively recent diversification associated with several dispersal events within this group. Moreover, ancestral area analyses reveal an Asian origin of the Indian Ocean and African clades. Ancestral state reconstruction analyses of plumage characters provide an interpretation of the plumage differentiation on islands and continents. Ancestral plumage traits are inferred to be close to those of the Asian paradise‐flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), and island species display a high degree of plumage autapomorphy compared with continental species. Main conclusions Terpsiphone paradisi is polyphyletic and comprises populations that have retained the ancestral plumage of the widespread Terpsiphone genus. The genus appears to have colonized south‐west Asia, the Indian Ocean and Africa from eastern Asia. The phylogeny and divergence time estimates indicate multiple simultaneous colonizations of the western Old World by Terpsiphone. These results reinforce a hypothesis of range expansions of a Terpsiphone paradisi‐like ancestor into eastern Asia and the western Old World.     

Phylogenetic biogeography of the leafy liverwort Herbertus (Jungermanniales, Herbertaceae) based on nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data: correlation between genetic variation and geographical distribution

Aim The cosmopolitan genus Herbertus is notorious for having a difficult taxonomy and for the fact that there is limited knowledge of species ranges and relationships. Topologies generated from variable molecular markers are used to discuss biogeographical patterns in Herbertus and to compare them with the geological history of continents and outcomes reported for other land plants. Location Africa, Asia, Azores, Europe, southern South America, northern South America, North America, New Zealand. Methods Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and chloroplast (cp) trnL–trnF sequences of 66 accessions of Herbertus and the outgroup species Triandrophyllum subtrifidum and Mastigophora diclados were used to investigate biogeographical patterns in Herbertus. Areas of putative endemism were defined based on the distribution of species included in the analyses. Maximum parsimony analyses were undertaken to reconstruct ancestral areas and intraspecies migration routes. Results The analyses reveal species‐level cladograms with a correlation between genetic variation and the geographical distribution of the related accessions. The southern South American Herbertus runcinatus is sister to the remainder of the genus, which is split into two main clades. One contains the Neotropical–African Herbertus juniperoideus and the New Zealand/Tasmanian Herbertus oldfieldianus. An African accession of H. juniperoideus is nested within Neotropical accessions. The second main clade includes species that inhabit Asia, the Holarctic, Africa, and northern South America. Maximum parsimony analyses indicate that this clade arose in Asia. Herbertus sendtneri originated in Asia and subsequently colonized the Holarctic and northern South America. An Asian origin and colonization into Africa is indicated for H. dicranus. Main conclusions The current distribution of Herbertus cannot be explained by Gondwanan vicariance. A more feasible explanation of the range is a combination of short‐distance dispersal, rare long‐distance dispersal events (especially into regions that faced floral displacements as a result of climatic changes) extinction, recolonization, and diversification. The African Herbertus flora is a mixture of Asian and Neotropical elements. Southern South America harbours an isolated species. The molecular data indicate partial decoupling of molecular and morphological variation in Herbertus. Biogeographical patterns in Herbertus are not dissimilar to those of other groups of bryophytes, but elucidation of the geographical ranges requires a molecular approach. Some patterns could be the result of maintenance of Herbertus in the inner Tropics during glacial maxima, and dispersal into temperate regions in warm phases.     

Neat and clear: 700 species of crane flies (Diptera: Tipulomorpha) link southern South America and Australasia

A biogeographical analysis of crane flies (Diptera, Tipulomorpha) in the southern hemisphere is used to test if their distribution patterns provide evidence of biogeographical homology (shared history) in the South Pacific. Crane fly distributions are interpreted in light of patterns of endemism and diversity and published phylogenetic studies. A panbiogeographical approach, assuming that repeating distribution patterns strongly suggest the existence of past connections between the areas (biogeographical homology), is used. A clear pattern is revealed in which crane fly taxa shared between southern South America, New Zealand and Australia are restricted to that region. Thirty genera and subgenera, together comprising about 700 species, occur in both South America and Australasia and only in these areas. This distribution defines the limits of the South Pacific Track, a standard biogeographical pattern displayed by many taxa, including the southern beeches (Nothofagus). Although the distribution of some taxa spans the entire track, others are present in parts of the areas only, forming a nested set of distributions. Within the surveyed genera and subgenera, all individual species are endemic to one single region or continent, suggesting vicariance as the main process behind crane fly disjunctions in this part of the world. The nested set of distribution patterns could be explained by extinctions in areas where taxa were present previously. Alternatively, it may indicate historical absences and the existence of a heterogeneous set of ancestral distributional ranges. ‘Gondwanan’ may not be the best term for the observed disjunctions, which should be labelled as trans‐Pacific instead. Recent molecular estimates of divergence times suggest a Permian origin of the earliest extant Diptera lineages such as the Tipulomorpha, followed by fast radiation in the Triassic. Although the differentiation of some crane fly groups occurring in the region may have been driven by recent Mesozoic and Cenozoic events of continental breakup, as least part of the fauna may have evolved allopatrically in response to older events. This may explain the overlapping distribution of subgenera in large genera such as Gynoplistia.     

Historical biogeography of amphibian parasites, genus Polystoma (Monogenea: Polystomatidae)

Aim  The present-day geographical distribution of parasites with a direct biological life cycle is guided mostly by the past dispersal and vicariance events that have affected their hosts. The Amphibia– Polystoma association (which satisfies these criteria) also exhibits original traits, such as host specificity and world-wide distribution. This biological model was thus chosen to investigate the common historical biogeography of its widespread representatives.
Location  North and South America, Eurasia and Africa.
Methods  We investigated the phylogeny of 12 species of neobatrachian parasites sampled from North and South America, Eurasia and Africa. Hosts belonged mostly to hyloids and ranoids of families Bufonidae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae, Ranidae and Hyperoliidae. Phylogenetic reconstructions were inferred from maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony analyses from complete ITS1 sequences.
Results  The group of American species appeared paraphyletic with one species at the base of a Eurafrican clade, within which two lineages were seen: one composed of only Eurasian species, and the other of European and African species, with the two European species basal to an African clade.
Main conclusions  The route of Polystoma evolution is deduced from the phylogenetic tree and discussed in the light of host evolution. We conclude that Polystoma originated in South America on hyloids, after the separation of South America from Africa. The genus must have colonized North America in Palaeocene times and Eurasia by the mid-Cainozoic, taking advantage of the dispersal of either ancestral bufonids or hylids. Africa, however, appears to have been colonized more recently, during the Messinian period.     

Melanesian and Asian origins of Polynesians: mtDNA and Y chromosome gradients across the Pacific

The human settlement of the Pacific Islands represents one of the most recent major migration events of mankind. Polynesians originated in Asia according to linguistic evidence or in Melanesia according to archaeological evidence. To shed light on the genetic origins of Polynesians, we investigated over 400 Polynesians from 8 island groups, in comparison with over 900 individuals from potential parental populations of Melanesia, Southeast and East Asia, and Australia, by means of Y chromosome (NRY) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers. Overall, we classified 94.1% of Polynesian Y chromosomes and 99.8% of Polynesian mtDNAs as of either Melanesian (NRY-DNA: 65.8%, mtDNA: 6%) or Asian (NRY-DNA: 28.3%, mtDNA: 93.8%) origin, suggesting a dual genetic origin of Polynesians in agreement with the "Slow Boat" hypothesis. Our data suggest a pronounced admixture bias in Polynesians toward more Melanesian men than women, perhaps as a result of matrilocal residence in the ancestral Polynesian society. Although dating methods are consistent with somewhat similar entries of NRY/mtDNA haplogroups into Polynesia, haplotype sharing suggests an earlier appearance of Melanesian haplogroups than those from Asia. Surprisingly, we identified gradients in the frequency distribution of some NRY/mtDNA haplogroups across Polynesia and a gradual west-to-east decrease of overall NRY/mtDNA diversity, not only providing evidence for a west-to-east direction of Polynesian settlements but also suggesting that Pacific voyaging was regular rather than haphazard. We also demonstrate that Fiji played a pivotal role in the history of Polynesia: humans probably first migrated to Fiji, and subsequent settlement of Polynesia probably came from Fiji.     

The case for creation of the North Pacific Ocean during the Mesozoic Era

Pangean reconstructions based on the Dymaxion Projection are discussed, and the advantages of placing cordilleran North America alongside eastern Asia are clearly seen. A detailed matching of the western North American and eastern Asian continental margins shows that the North Pacific can be closed as tightly as the Atlantic when appropriate adjustments are made to reproduce Permian geography. Closure of the North Pacific eliminates overlap of cordilleran North America with South America in the Caribbean region and permits closure of the Arctic Ocean.Geological and paleontological data are presented which permit a tentative Phanerozoic history of the North Pacific to be outlined. According to this view, cordilleran North America and the North China craton were rifted from cratonic North America at the dawn of the Phanerozoic. They drifted westward across a proto-Pacific Ocean and were temporarily sutured to the Siberian craton along the Sayanian fold belt during the world-wide Early Paleozoic orogenies. Final suture occurred along the Mongolian fold belt during the world-wide Late Paleozoic orogenies which completed the consolidation of Pangea. Separation of cordilleran North America from eastern Asia was part of the Mesozoic fragmentation of Pangea. Mesozoic sea-floor spreading carried cordilleran North America eastward and opened the present North Pacific. Cordilleran North America was sutured to cratonic North America during the world-wide Cenozoic orogenies. Suture began along the Nevadan-Sevier fold belt and was followed by under-riding along the Laramide fold belt. North America then partly over-rode the East Pacific Rise sea-floor spreading center, and dextral transform faults across the rift valley created faults and oroclines in cordilleran North America.A driving force for the disintegration of Pangea is provided by the unstable tetrahedral convection model. This model is fitted to Phanerozoic world maps for all periods beginning with the Permian to show how an opening North Pacific Ocean can be made compatible with opening of the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. The unstable tetrahedral convection model also provides a mechanism for opening the Cenozoic small ocean basins behind West Pacific island arcs. Such basins form above abandoned convection plumes or curtains which rise passively to the earth's surface. These plumes and curtains are abandoned when the potential energy-driving convection is locally exhausted.     

Phylogenetic relationships and evolution in Chrysosplenium (Saxifragaceae) based on matK sequence data

Chrysosplenium (Saxifragaceae) consists of 57 species widely distributed in temperate and arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species restricted to the southern part of South America. Species relationships within the genus are highly problematic. The genus has traditionally been divided into two groups, sometimes recognized as sections (Oppositifolia and Alternifolia), based on leaf arrangement, or, alternatively, into 17 series. Based on morphological features, Hara suggested that the genus originated in South America and then subsequently migrated to the Northern Hemisphere. We conducted phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences of the chloroplast gene matK for species of Chrysosplenium to elucidate relationships, test Hara's biogeographic hypothesis for the genus, and examine chromosomal and gynoecial diversification. These analyses revealed that both sections Oppositifolia and Alternifolia are monophyletic and form two large sister clades. Hence, leaf arrangement is a good indicator of relationships within this genus. Hara's series Pilosa and Macrostemon are each also monophyletic; however, series Oppositifolia, Alternifolia, and Nepalensia are clearly not monophyletic. MacClade reconstructions suggest that the genus arose in Eastern Asia, rather than in South America, with several independent migration events from Asia to the New World. In one well-defined subclade, species from eastern and western North America form a discrete clade, with Old World species as their sister group, suggesting that the eastern and western North American taxa diverged following migration to that continent. The South American species forms a clade with species from eastern Asia; this disjunction may be the result of ancient long-distance dispersal. Character mapping demonstrated that gynoecial diversification is dynamic, with reversals from inferior to half-inferior ovaries, as well as to ovaries that appear superior. Chromosomal evolution also appears to be labile with several independent origins of n = 12 (from an original number of n = 11) and multiple episodes of aneuploidy.     

豆科黄华族植物地理学的初步研究

在系统学业伦和地理分布及古植物学资源的基础上,利用形态－地理学的原理和方法,对豆科Papilionaceae黄华族和Tribe Thermopsideae进行了植物地理学的初步研究。结果表明,（１）黄华族可能是古地中海起源的,它的起源地在古北大陆的南岸,大约相当于现在的中纬度地区;（２）起源时间能早于第三纪,大约处白垩纪末和始新世之间。当时有一个所谓的“北热带植物群”Ｂoreotropical Flora发生;（３）本族６个属基本上构成一个比较自然的单元。它们是由原始槐族类祖先演化而来的;（４）木本类是本族原始的,早出的类群,它们基本上处于遗状态;草本类是本族进化的、晚出的类群,们种类多,分布区有扩大的趋势;（５）Ｔhermopsis间断分布于亚洲（包括中亚和东亚）、北美（包括北美东部和北美西部。东亚太平洋沿岸和北美大西洋沿岩最有可能是它的原始保存地,而不是起源地,它们主要是通过古地中海海道而发生联系的,造成原始类群星散分布的格局不是由一次,而是多次地史和气候变化的结果;（６）晚第三纪亚洲腹地造山运动引起的喜马拉雅山的降起和青藏高原的抬升,以及北美落基山山体抬升引起的水温条件的急剧变化是某些类群（包括Piptanthus和Thermopsis)物种局部分化的主要动力。     

松墨天牛的全球潜在分布区分析

松墨天牛MonochamusalternatusHope分布在亚洲东部,是松材线虫Bursaphelenchusxylophilus(SteinerandBuhrer)在亚洲最有效的昆虫媒介,同时也是重要的蛀干害虫。利用CLIMEX模型分析松墨天牛分布区的气候限制因子,并在全球范围预测它的潜在分布区。模型分析结果表明,温度和降水是松墨天牛分布区的主要气候限制因子。温度在30°N以北地区和30°S以南地区主要表现为冷胁迫,在非洲中部、南亚和澳大利亚北部表现为热胁迫。有效积温不足可能是限制松墨天牛向北扩散的主要原因。降水在中国西北地区、非洲中北部、澳大利亚中部和西部与美国西部主要表现为干胁迫。降水量对分布区范围影响不大。预测结果表明,松墨天牛的全球潜在分布区远远大于实际分布范围。松墨天牛在东半球的潜在分布区包括亚洲东部和南部地区、地中海沿岸、非洲的中部和南部以及澳大利亚的东部和南部,在亚洲热带的潜在分布区1年3代,地中海地区1年1代,非洲1年2～3代,在澳大利亚主要1年1代。松墨天牛在西半球的潜在分布区主要集中在美国南部和东部沿海地区,中美洲以及南美洲的广大地区,美国主要1年1代,中美洲1年2～3代,南美洲主要1年2代。     

Determining biogeographical patterns of dispersal and diversification in oscine passerine birds in Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa

Aim  Several independent studies suggest that oscine passerine birds originated in Eastern Gondwana/Australia and from there spread to Southeast Asia and then to Africa. A recently constructed supertree including 1724 oscine taxa forms the basis for this study, in which we present a more detailed hypothesis of this out-of-Australia scenario.
Location  Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, western Pacific, Indian Ocean.
Methods  We used the computer program DIVA to identify putative ancestral areas for each node. We also applied a molecular clock calibrated with three recently conducted studies of passerines to estimate the ages of basal nodes. Although these time estimates are rough they give some indication that, together with the putative ancestral areas, they can be compared with known events of plate tectonic movements in the Australian, Southeast Asian and western Pacific regions.
Results  The DIVA analysis shows that Basal Corvida and Crown Corvida originated in Australia. Ancestral nodes for Picathartes / Chaetops and Passerida originated in Africa, and the basal nodes of Sylvioidea also originated in Africa. For Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea we were unable to establish ancestral patterns. The molecular clock showed that Crown Corvida radiated between 20 and 30 Ma whereas Basal Corvida and the Passerida clade radiated from c . 45 to 50 Ma.
Main conclusions  Both approaches agree that: (1) Crown Corvida spread from Australia to Southeast Asia, with several dispersal events around the time when the terranes of Australian and Indomalayan origin came close together some 15 Ma, and (2) a single dispersal event went from Australia across the Indian Ocean to Africa c . 45–50 Ma, leading to the very large radiation of the parvorder Passerida. The latter hypothesis is novel, and contrary to the general view that oscines spread exclusively via Southeast Asia.