title: Molecules and fossils reveal punctuated diversification in Caribbean "faviid" corals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Even with well-known sampling biases, the fossil record is key to understanding macro-evolutionary patterns. During the Miocene to Pleistocene in the Caribbean Sea, the fossil record of scleractinian corals shows a remarkable period of rapid diversification followed by massive extinction. Here we combine a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny based on three nuclear introns with an updated fossil stratigraphy to examine patterns of radiation and extinction in Caribbean corals within the traditional family Faviidae.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Concatenated phylogenetic analysis showed most species of Caribbean faviids were monophyletic, with the exception of two Manicina species. The time-calibrated tree revealed the stem group originated around the closure of the Tethys Sea (17.0 Ma), while the genus Manicina diversified during the Late Miocene (8.20 Ma), when increased sedimentation and productivity may have favored free-living, heterotrophic species. Reef and shallow water specialists, represented by Diploria and Favia, originate at the beginning of the Pliocene (5 - 6 Ma) as the Isthmus of Panama shoaled and regional productivity declined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Later origination of the stem group than predicted from the fossil record corroborates the hypothesis of morphological convergence in Diploria and Favia genera. Our data support the rapid evolution of morphological and life-history traits among faviid corals that can be linked to Mio-Pliocene environmental changes.
authors: Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. sonja.schwartz@berkeley.edu
authors: Sonja A
authors: SA
authors: Schwartz
authors: Ann F
authors: AF
authors: Budd
authors: David B
authors: DB
authors: Carlon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017691:Caribbean Region; D005580:Fossils; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA