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Re‐delimitation of Tinospora (Menispermaceae): Implications for character evolution and historical biogeography
Author(s) -
Lian Lian,
Ortiz Rosa Del C.,
Jabbour Florian,
Chen ZhiDuan,
Wang Wei
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.1002/tax.12126
Subject(s) - vicariance , molecular phylogenetics , biogeography , tenera , biology , phylogenetic tree , genus , ndhf , evolutionary biology , sister group , tinospora cordifolia , menispermaceae , biological dispersal , character evolution , zoology , botany , paleontology , clade , genetics , agroforestry , population , alkaloid , demography , palm oil , sociology , gene
Abstract Traditional Tinospora is a heterogeneous genus, distributed in the African and Asian tropics as well as Australia and adjacent islands. Molecular phylogenetics has contributed greatly to improve our understanding of the genus over the past decade, however its circumscription is yet unresolved. In this study, we present a phylogenetic analysis of Burasaieae using six molecular markers ( rbcL , atpB , matK , ndhF , trnL‐F , ITS), with a focus on Tinospora . Our results indicate that sampled species of Tinospora are distributed in three different clades. Tinospora tinosporoides , endemic to Australasia, is strongly supported as sister to the South American Borismene . By integrating lines of evidence from molecular phylogeny and morphology, we resurrected the monotypic Fawcettia to include F. tinosporoides . Our estimated age for the split of Fawcettia ‐ Borismene was ca. 29 Ma, suggesting that trans‐Pacific long‐distance dispersal may be the most feasible explanation for the Australasian–South American disjunction. Tinospora oblongifolia is a member of Hyalosepalum , characterized by three stamens with connate filaments, whereas T. tenera , once placed in Hyalosepalum , is recovered within Tinospora , characterized by six stamens. Evolutionary inferences of morphological characters indicate that the five selected characters, traditionally used to distinguish genera in Burasaieae, are highly homoplastic. Our molecular dating and ancestral range reconstruction suggest that Tinospora originated from Africa in the middle Oligocene (ca. 28 Ma) and expanded into Asia in the Early Miocene (ca. 21 Ma). Within Tinospora , a vicariance event occurred in the Middle Miocene (ca. 17 Ma) resulting in the split of African T. tenera and its Asian allies. One dispersal from Asia to Africa was inferred in the Late Miocene (ca. 10 Ma). Australian T. smilacina and T. esiangkara originated from Asia in the early Late Miocene (ca. 11 Ma). Thus, geodispersal and subsequent vicariance, as well as transoceanic long‐distance dispersal, have been responsible for the present distribution of Tinospora .