Climate change and speciation in Neotropical seasonally dry forest plants

PENNINGTON, R.; LAVIN, M.; PRADO, D.E.; PENDRY, C.A.; PELL, S.

Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change, Chapter 17

Oxford University Press

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2005; p. 199 - 214

Historical climate changes have had a major effect on the distribution and evolution of plant species in the neotropics. What is more controversial is whether relatively recent and rapid Pleistocene climatic changes have driven speciation, or whether neotropical species diversity is more ancient. This question is addressed using evolutionary rates analysis of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequence data on diverse taxa occupying neotropical seasonally dry forests: Ruprechtia (Polygonaceae), robinioid legumes (Leguminosae), Chaetocalyx and Nissolia