Zehneria neorensis: Additional phylogenies and sequence information

Basic data and supplement for Ranjan et al. 2022, Biogeography of Zehneria (Cucurbitaceae) and a New Species from India, Systematic Botany.
Zehneria is one of the most diverse genera in Cucurbitaceae with 75 accepted species mainly in Southeast Asia and tropical Africa. We describe Zehneria neorensis, a new species from Neora Valley in the mountains of West Bengal, India, which has 7–10 cm long twisted fruiting pedicels, the longest pedicels reported in the genus so far. Based on morphological data, we also suggest the transfer of Melothria morobensis to the genus Zehneria. With a molecular phylogenetic and global biogeographic analysis based on 3856 nucleotides of plastid and nuclear ribosomal DNA, we demonstrate that the genus Zehneria most likely originated on the African continent 24 (30-19) million years ago and spread from there at least five times to Madagascar and three times to Asia. Zehneria neorensis represents an independent colonization event from Africa to India about 11 (...