Rapid Diversification of a Species-Rich Genus of Neotropical Rain Forest Trees

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 293; no. 5538; pp. 2242 - 2245
• Main Authors: Richardson, James E., Pennington, R. Toby, Pennington, Terence D., Hollingsworth, Peter M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 21.09.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: America; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biological diversity; Biological Evolution; Biological taxonomies; Branches; Central America; Chorology; classification; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Chloroplast; DNA, Chloroplast - genetics; DNA, Plant; DNA, Plant - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics; Ecosystem; Evolution; Fabaceae; Fabaceae - classification; Fabaceae - genetics; Fabaceae - growth & development; Fossils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genera; Genes, Plant; genetics; geographical distribution; growth & development; Individualized Instruction; Inga; Inga (Fabaceae); Numbers; Parsimony; Phylogeny; Plant cytology, morphology, systematics, chorology and evolution; Plants; Plants, Medicinal; Rain forest plants; Rainforests; South America; Speciation; Species diversity; Taxa; Time; Trees; Trees (Plants); Trees - classification; Trees - genetics; Trees - growth & development; Tropical Climate; Tropical plants; Tropical rain forests; America; South America; Central America; Neotropical Region; Climate; Genetic marker; Quaternary; Rain forest; Tertiary; Ribosomal DNA; Spacer DNA; Tropical forest; Phylogeny; Leguminosae; Geographic distribution; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Species richness; Speciation

Species richness in the tropics has been attributed to the gradual accumulation of species over a long geological period in stable equatorial climates or, conversely, to speciation in response to late Tertiary geological events and unstable Pleistocene climates. DNA sequence data are consistent with...