2019/09/11 by Jenna M. McCullough, Robert G. Moyle, Brian Tilston Smith +1 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Pantropical #Laurasia #Clade #Old World #Biogeography #Lineage (genetic) #Biology #Ecology #Tropics #Monophyly #Geography #Paleontology #Gondwana #Phylogenetic tree #Genus
paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.0122
openalex publication_date 2019/09/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The evolution of pantropically distributed clades has puzzled palaeo- and neontologists for decades regarding the different hypotheses about where they originated. In this study, we explored how a pantropical distribution arose in a diverse clade with a rich fossil history: the avian order Coraciiformes. This group has played a central role in the debate of the biogeographical history of Neoaves. However, the order lacked a coherent species tree to inform study of its evolutionary dynamics. Here, we present the first complete species tree of Coraciiformes, produced with 4858 ultraconserved elements, which supports two clades: (1) Old World-restricted bee-eaters, rollers and ground-rollers; and (2) New World todies and motmots, and cosmopolitan kingfishers. Our results indicated two pulses of diversification: (1) major lineages of Coraciiformes arose in Laurasia approximately 57 Ma, followed by independent dispersals into equatorial regions, possibly due to tracking tropical habitat into the lower latitudes-the Coracii (Coraciidae + Brachypteraciidae) into the Afrotropics, bee-eaters throughout the Old World tropics, and kingfishers into the Australasian tropics; and (2) diversification of genera in the tropics during the Miocene and Pliocene. Our study supports the important role of Laurasia as the geographical origin of a major pantropical lineage and provides a new framework for comparative analyses in this charismatic bird radiation.