Riding the Ice Age El Nino? Pacific biogeography and evolution of Metrosideros subg. Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA.

ABSTRACT: Metrosideros subg. Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) comprises approximately 26 species distributed widely across the Pacific basin. They occur on the ancient Gondwanan landmasses of New Zealand and New Caledonia, as well as on the volcanic islands of the remote Pacific, from Melanesia to tropical Polynesia and the Bonin Island. Phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ribosomal DNA spacer sequences from all named species showed Metrosideros umbellata of New Zealand as basal in the subgenus, with the remaining species falling into three monophyletic clades. One includes the seven New Caledonian species together with three daughters in western Oceania that probably dispersed during the mid/late Tertiary. A second contains six taxa located in east Melanesia and Samoa that may also have arisen from a mi

SUBMITTER: Wright SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC18169 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature