Geography shapes the phylogeny of frailejones (Espeletiinae Cuatrec., Asteraceae): a remarkable example of recent rapid radiation in sky islands.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The páramo ecosystem, located above the timberline in the tropical Andes, has been the setting for some of the most dramatic plant radiations, and it is one of the world's fastest evolving and most diverse high-altitude ecosystems. Today 144+ species of frailejones (subtribe Espeletiinae Cuatrec., Asteraceae) dominate the páramo. Frailejones have intrigued naturalists and botanists, not just for their appealing beauty and impressive morphological diversity, but also for their remarkable adaptations to the extremely harsh environmental conditions of the páramo. Previous attempts to reconstruct the evolutionary history of this group failed to resolve relationships among genera and species, and there is no agreement regarding the classification of the group. Thus, our goal

SUBMITTER: Diazgranados M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5292030 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature