title: Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation.
abstract: Songbirds (oscine passerines) are the most species-rich and cosmopolitan bird group, comprising almost half of global avian diversity. Songbirds originated in Australia, but the evolutionary trajectory from a single species in an isolated continent to worldwide proliferation is poorly understood. Here, we combine the first comprehensive genome-scale DNA sequence data set for songbirds, fossil-based time calibrations, and geologically informed biogeographic reconstructions to provide a well-supported evolutionary hypothesis for the group. We show that songbird diversification began in the Oligocene, but accelerated in the early Miocene, at approximately half the age of most previous estimates. This burst of diversification occurred coincident with extensive island formation in Wallacea, which provided the first dispersal corridor out of Australia, and resulted in independent waves of songbird expansion through Asia to the rest of the globe. Our results reconcile songbird evolution with Earth history and link a major radiation of terrestrial biodiversity to early diversification within an isolated Australian continent.
authors: Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
authors: Robert G
authors: 0000-0001-6513-2344
authors: RG
authors: Moyle
authors: Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
authors: Carl H
authors: 0000-0002-3356-246X
authors: CH
authors: Oliveros
authors: Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Andersen
authors: Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
authors: Peter A
authors: PA
authors: Hosner
authors: Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA.
authors: Brett W
authors: BW
authors: Benz
authors: Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
authors: Joseph D
authors: JD
authors: Manthey
authors: Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
authors: Scott L
authors: SL
authors: Travers
authors: Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
authors: Rafe M
authors: RM
authors: Brown
authors: Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
authors: Brant C
authors: BC
authors: Faircloth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D001315:Australia; D044822:Biodiversity; D005580:Fossils; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D020308:Songbirds / Q000235:genetics*