Historical biogeography and temporal diversification in Symphoricarpos (Caprifolieae, Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacales)

The major aim of this paper was to investigate temporal diversification within Symphoricarpos (Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacales). We used recently published molecular sequences, along with fossil data, to examine when Symphoricarpos may have arrived in the New World and if current distributional patterns can be explained by data based on biogeographic, climatological, and geological events. We simultaneously estimated the phylogeny and divergence times within Symphoricarpos and related Caprifolieae species using BEAST. Based on these phylogenetic and divergence time estimations we reconstructed ancestral areas using the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis (DEC) method implemented in Lagrange. For Symphoricarpos, our phylogenetic results inferred using BEAST were in strong agreement with previous studies, with a well-supported clade containing the North American species that was sister to the lone Asian species. Our divergence time results suggest that the North American species originated in th...