Speciation history of a species complex of Primulina eburnea (Gesneriaceae) from limestone karsts of southern China, a biodiversity hot spot.

ABSTRACT: Limestone karsts in southern China are characterized by high edaphic and topographic heterogeneity and host high levels of species richness and endemism. However, the evolutionary mechanisms for generating such biodiversity remain poorly understood. Here, we performed species delimitation, population genetic analyses, simulations of gene flow and analyses of floral morphological traits to infer the geographic history of speciation in a species complex of Primulina eburnea from limestone karsts of southern China. Using Bayesian species delimitation, we determined that there are seven distinct species that correspond well to the putative morphological species. Species tree reconstruction, Structure and Neighbor-Net analyses all recovered four lineages in agreement with currently speci

SUBMITTER: Wang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5680421 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature