Dataset Information

Diversification of flowering plants in space and time.

ABSTRACT: The rapid diversification and high species richness of flowering plants is regarded as 'Darwin's second abominable mystery'. Today the global spatiotemporal pattern of plant diversification remains elusive. Using a newly generated genus-level phylogeny and global distribution data for 14,244 flowering plant genera, we describe the diversification dynamics of angiosperms through space and time. Our analyses show that diversification rates increased throughout the early Cretaceous and then slightly decreased or remained mostly stable until the end of the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event 66 million years ago. After that, diversification rates increased again towards the present. Younger genera with high diversification rates dominate temperate and dryland regions, whereas old genera with low diversification dominate the tropics. This leads to a negative correlation between spatial patterns of diversification and genus diversity. Our findings suggest that global changes since the Cenozoic shaped the patterns of flowering plant diversity and support an emerging consensus that diversification rates are higher outside the tropics.

SUBMITTER: Dimitrov D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10665465 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diversification of flowering plants in space and time.

Dimitrov Dimitar D Xu Xiaoting X Su Xiangyan X Shrestha Nawal N Liu Yunpeng Y Kennedy Jonathan D JD Lyu Lisha L Nogués-Bravo David D Rosindell James J Yang Yong Y Fjeldså Jon J Liu Jianquan J Schmid Bernhard B Fang Jingyun J Rahbek Carsten C Wang Zhiheng Z

Nature communications 20231122 1

The rapid diversification and high species richness of flowering plants is regarded as 'Darwin's second abominable mystery'. Today the global spatiotemporal pattern of plant diversification remains elusive. Using a newly generated genus-level phylogeny and global distribution data for 14,244 flowering plant genera, we describe the diversification dynamics of angiosperms through space and time. Our analyses show that diversification rates increased throughout the early Cretaceous and then slightl ...[more]

PMID: 37993449

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Dataset Information

Diversification of flowering plants in space and time.

Publications

Diversification of flowering plants in space and time.

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