title: Origins and evolution of cinnamon and camphor: A phylogenetic and historical biogeographical analysis of the Cinnamomum group (Lauraceae).
abstract: Tropical and subtropical amphi-Pacific disjunction is among the most fascinating distribution patterns, but received little attention. Here we use the fossil-rich Cinnamomum group, a primarily tropical and subtropical Asian lineage with some species distributed in Neotropics, Australasia and Africa to shed light upon this disjunction pattern. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses were carried out using sequences of three nuclear loci from 94 Cinnamomum group and 13 outgroup samples. Results show that although there are three clades within a monophyletic Cinnamomum group, Cinnamomum and previously recognized subdivisions within this genus were all rejected as natural groups. The Cinnamomum group appears to have originated in the widespread boreotropical paleoflora of Laurasia during the early Eocene (ca. 55Ma). The formation and breakup of the boreotropics seems to have then played a key role in the formation of intercontinental disjunctions within the Cinnamomum group. The first cooling interval (50-48Ma) in the late early Eocene resulted in a floristic discontinuity between Eurasia and North America causing the tropical and subtropical amphi-Pacific disjunction. The second cooling interval in the mid-Eocene (42-38Ma) resulted in the fragmentation of the boreotropics within Eurasia, leading to an African-Asian disjunction. Multiple dispersal events from North into South America occurred from the early Eocene to late Miocene and a single migration event from Asia into Australia appears to have occurred in the early Miocene.
authors.affiliation: Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China.
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299, USA.
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van der Werff
authors.affiliation: Herbarium (KUN), Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, PR China.
authors.forename: Hsi-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Biozentrum Klein Flottbek und Botanischer Garten, Universität Hamburg, Ohnhorststr. 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rohwer
authors.affiliation: Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4878, Australia.
authors.forename: Darren M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Crayn
authors.affiliation: Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Hong-Hu
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
authors.forename: Marlien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van der Merwe
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity & Sprigg Geobiology Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Conran
authors.affiliation: Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China. Electronic address: jieli@xtbg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001208:Asia; D044362:Australasia; D002164:Camphor; D027424:Cinnamomum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005580:Fossils; D009656:North America; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D002164:Camphor
keywords: Amphi-Pacific disjunction; Biogeography; Boreotropical paleoflora; Cinnamomum group; Lauraceae; Molecular phylogeny