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Title: Phylogenetic analysis of Attalea (Arecaceae): insights on the historical biogeography of a recently diversified Neotropical plant group

Author
item FREITAS, CINTIA - University Of Vermont
item Meerow, Alan
item PINTAUD, JEAN CHRISTOPHE - Institute For Research And Development (IRD)
item HENDERSON, ANDREW - New York Botanical Garden
item NOBLICK, LARRY - Montgomery Botanical Center
item COSTA, FLAVIA - Instituto Nacional De Pesquisas Da Amazonia (INPA)
item BARBOSA, CARLOS EDUARDO - Instituto Nacional De Pesquisas Da Amazonia (INPA)
item BARRINGTON, DAVID - University Of Vermont

Submitted to: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/28/2016
Publication Date: 10/14/2016
Citation: Freitas, C., Meerow, A.W., Pintaud, J., Henderson, A., Noblick, L., Costa, F., Barbosa, C., Barrington, D. 2016. Phylogenetic analysis of Attalea (Arecaceae): insights on the historical biogeography of a recently diversified Neotropical plant group. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 182:287-302.

Interpretive Summary: Interpretive Abstract Here we present a dated tree of life for the tropical American palm genus Attalea. We used six loci from the nuclear WRKY gene family across 98 accessions to address relationships among species and biogeographic hypotheses. Formerly recognized groups within Attalea are not supported . Species of Attalea from the Atlantic forest form a well-supported group that is sister to the Attalea species from the Amazonian, Andean Valleys and Middle America. Dates for the main divergence events suggests a relationship with the development of the dry forests that now span eastern South America, and the presence of Lake Pebas in the Western Amazon. The Caribbean Attalea crassispatha possibly colonized Hispaniola through a long-distance dispersal event after the emergence of the Great Antilles Avian Ridge (GAAR) land bridge and before the Panama channel closed. The ancestral Attalea might have been a widespread clade that went through major splits in response to climate change from 20 Ma to the present. Overall, the split between the Atlantic-forest clade and the two Amazonian-Northern Andean clades was a consequence of increased aridity in South America.

Technical Abstract: Technical Abstract Here we present a dated phylogenetic tree of the neotropical palm genus Attalea (Arecaceae). We used six orthologs from the nuclear WRKY gene family across 98 accessions to address relationships among species and biogeographic hypotheses. Here we found that the formerly recognized groups within Attalea are not monophyletic and therefore, there is no support for the multiple genera as previously thought. Species of Attalea s.s. from the Atlantic forest form a well-supported clade sister to the Attalea from the Amazonian, Andean Valleys and Mesoamerica. Dates for the main divergence events suggests a relationship with the development of the dry forests that now span eastern South America, and the presence of Lake Pebas in the Western Amazon. Attalea crassispatha possibly colonized Hispaniola through a long-distance dispersal event after the emergence of the Great Antilles Avian Ridge (GAAR) land bridge and before the Panama channel closed. The ancestral Attalea might have been a widespread clade that went through major splits in response to climate change from 20 Ma to the present. Overall, the split between the Atlantic-forest clade and the two Amazonian-Northern Andean clades was possibly a consequence of increased aridity in South America.