title: Evidence for a vicariant origin of Macaronesian-Eritreo/Arabian disjunctions in Campylanthus Roth (Plantaginaceae).
abstract: The numerous disjunct plant distributions between Macaronesia and eastern Africa-Arabia suggest that these could be the relicts of a once continuous vegetation belt along the southern Tethys, which has been fragmented by Upper Miocene-Pliocene aridification. We tested this vicariance hypothesis with a phylogenetic analysis of Campylanthus (Plantaginaceae), based on nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data. Our results indicate a basal split within Campylanthus giving rise to Macaronesian and Eritreo-Arabian lineages in the Pliocene/Upper Miocene. This is consistent with the vicariance hypothesis, thus obviating the need to postulate trans-Saharan long-distance dispersal. The biogeography of Campylanthus may parallel patterns in other plant groups and the implications for our understanding of the biogeography of northern and eastern Africa, and Arabia are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Botany Department, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany. thiv.smns@naturkundemuseum-bw.de
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thiv
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thulin
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hjertson
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kropf
authors.forename: Hans Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Linder
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005843:Geography; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008877:Middle East; D010802:Phylogeny; D010943:Plantago / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant