@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref25157,
author = {P?vel Matos-Marav? and Ronald M Clouse and Eli M Sarnat and Evan P. Economo and John S LaPolla and Michaela Borovanska and Christian Rabeling and Jesse Czekanski-Moir and Edward O Wilson and Milan Janda},
title = {An ant genus-group (Prenolepis) illuminates the drivers of insect diversification in the Indo-Pacific},
year = {2018},
keywords = {biogeography, diversification, ecological shifts, New Guinea, Pacific islands, taxon cycle},
doi = {10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.007},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790316303414?via%3Dihub},
pmid = {29448063},
journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution},
volume = {123},
number = {},
pages = {16--25},
abstract = {Aim
The islands in Malesia and the tropical South Pacific are considered biodiversity hotspots, yet a general understanding of the origins and diversification of species-rich groups in the region remains elusive. We aim to test hypotheses for the evolutionary processes driving insect species diversity in the Indo-Pacific using a higher-level and comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis for an ant clade consisting of five genera.
Location
The Indo-Pacific region; including Malesia (New Guinea, Indo-Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines) and the Pacific islands
Methods
We estimated divergence times and reconstructed the biogeographical history of ant species in the Prenolepis genus-group (Formicidae: Formicinae). We used a fossil-calibrated phylogeny to infer ancestral geographical ranges utilizing a biogeographic model that includes founder-event speciation. Ancestral state reconstructions of the ant species' ecological preferences, and phylogenetic diversification dynamics through time were estimated using the latest analytical approaches.
Results
Faunal interchange between Asia and Australia is an old zoogeographic event in this group, occurring at approximately 20?15 Ma. Dispersal to the Fiji Basin happened during the early and middle Miocene (ca. 15?10 Ma), in agreement with the subaerial Vitiaz Arc hypothesis. Two diversification models were the most probable scenarios for the evolution of Melanesian lineages: (1) one-process model with overall increasing speciation at 6 Ma, and (2) a diversification rate shift in a clade consisting of geographically expanding taxa, that also had a shift in ecological preferences.
Main conclusions
Ancient dispersal conduits following inferred palaeogeographic reconfigurations of the region were important for the colonization of the Pacific archipelagos. For this particular group of ants, the rapid orogenesis in New Guinea, and possibly a subsequent ecological shift, promoted the taxonomic diversification and geographic range expansions of these insects.}
}