Late Cretaceous vicariance in Gondwanan amphibians.
Overseas dispersals are often invoked when Southern Hemisphere terrestrial and freshwater organism phylogenies do not fit the sequence or timing of Gondwana fragmentation. We used dispersal-vicariance analyses and molecular timetrees to show that two species-rich frog groups, Microhylidae and Natatanura, display congruent patterns of spatial and temporal diversification among Gondwanan plates in the Late Cretaceous, long after the presumed major tectonic break-up events. Because amphibians are notoriously salt-intolerant, these analogies are best explained by simultaneous vicariance, rather than by oceanic dispersal. Hence our results imply Late Cretaceous connections between most adjacent Gondwanan landmasses, an essential concept for biogeographic and palaeomap reconstructions.
Van Bocxlaer
Ines
I
Biology Department, Unit of Ecology and Systematics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Roelants
Kim
K
Biju
S D
SD
Nagaraju
J
J
Bossuyt
Franky
F
D000663:Amphibians / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D001208:Asia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D007194:India; D008270:Madagascar; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D013997:Time Factors