Global biogeography since Pangaea

The break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea around 180 Ma has left its imprint on the global distribution of species and resulted in vicariance-driven speciation. Here, we test the idea that the molecular clock dates, for the divergences of species whose geographical ranges were divided, should agree...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2017-06, Vol.284 (1856), p.20170716-20170716
Main Authors: McIntyre, Sarah R. N., Lineweaver, Charles H., Groves, Colin P., Chopra, Aditya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biogeography
Biological Evolution
Continental Drift
Divergence
Geography
Geological Phenomena
Palaeobiology
Palaeomagnetic
Paleomagnetism
Pangaea
Pangea
Phylogenetic
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Phylogeography
Speciation
Taxa
Terrestrial environments
Vertebrates
Vertebrates - classification
Vicariant Speciation
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Summary:The break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea around 180 Ma has left its imprint on the global distribution of species and resulted in vicariance-driven speciation. Here, we test the idea that the molecular clock dates, for the divergences of species whose geographical ranges were divided, should agree with the palaeomagnetic dates for the continental separations. Our analysis of recently available phylogenetic divergence dates of 42 pairs of vertebrate taxa, selected for their reduced ability to disperse, demonstrates that the divergence dates in phylogenetic trees of continent-bound terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates are consistent with the palaeomagnetic dates of continental separation.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2017.0716