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Competing paradigms of Amazonian diversification and the Pleistocene refugium hypothesis
Author(s) -
GarzónOrduña Ivonne J.,
BenettiLonghini Jennifer E.,
Brower Andrew V. Z.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1111/jbi.12539
Subject(s) - amazonian , refugium (fishkeeping) , pleistocene , biogeography , extant taxon , early pleistocene , ecology , eutheria , geography , climate change , biology , paleontology , evolutionary biology , amazon rainforest , phanerozoic , habitat , cenozoic , structural basin
Evidence from butterflies and birds suggests that most extant Amazonian species arose during the Pleistocene (< 2.6 Ma). If these speciation events share common, extrinsic causes, their explanation probably involves climate‐driven biogeographical shifts, because the major orogenic events shaping the biogeography of the Neotropics were over by then. In the light of these observations, criticisms of the Pleistocene refugium hypothesis are examined.