title: Supermatrix phylogeny and biogeography of the Australasian Meliphagides radiation (Aves: Passeriformes).
abstract: With nearly 300 species, the infraorder Meliphagides represents one of the largest and most conspicuous Australasian bird radiations. Although the group has been the focus of a number of recent phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive species-level phylogenetic hypothesis is still lacking. This has impeded the assessment of broad-scale evolutionary, biogeographic and ecological hypotheses. In the present study, we use a supermatrix approach including five mitochondrial and four nuclear markers to infer a time-calibrated phylogeny of the Meliphagides. Our phylogeny, which includes 286 of the 289 (99%) currently recognized species, is largely congruent with previous estimates. However, the addition of 60 newly sequenced species reveals some novel relationships. Our biogeographic analyses suggest an Australian origin for the group in the early Oligocene (31.3Mya, 95% HPD 25.2-38.2Mya). In addition, we find that dispersal events out of Australia have been numerous and frequent, particularly to New Guinea, which has also been the source of multiple back-colonizations to the Australian mainland. The phylogeny provides an important framework for studying a wide variety of macroecological and macroevolutionary themes, including character evolution, origin and timing of diversification, biogeographic patterns and species responses to climate change.
authors.affiliation: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: petterzmarki@snm.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Petter Z
authors.initials: PZ
authors.lastname: Marki
authors.affiliation: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Knud A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jønsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irestedt
authors.affiliation: Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
authors.forename: Jacqueline M T
authors.initials: JMT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rahbek
authors.affiliation: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fjeldså
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002138:Calibration; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Australia; Honeyeaters; Meliphagides; Molecular phylogeny; New Guinea; Systematics