The bee tree of life: a supermatrix approach to apoid phylogeny and biogeography.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bees are the primary pollinators of angiosperms throughout the world. There are more than 16,000 described species, with broad variation in life history traits such as nesting habitat, diet, and social behavior. Despite their importance as pollinators, the evolution of bee biodiversity is understudied: relationships among the seven families of bees remain controversial, and no empirical global-level reconstruction of historical biogeography has been attempted. Morphological studies have generally suggested that the phylogeny of bees is rooted near the family Colletidae, whereas many molecular studies have suggested a root node near (or within) Melittidae. Previous molecular studies have focused on a relatively small sample of taxa (~150 species) and genes (seven at most)

SUBMITTER: Hedtke SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3706286 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature