Data from: Diversification dynamics of vegetation during the Cenozoic in the Neotropics: A palynological perspective from Colombia

The Neotropics maintains the highest biodiversity of the planet, exerts
control in global climate and play an important role in the dynamics of
our planet. Researches from a wide range of disciplines are very
interested in understanding how diversity in the Neotropics was produced
and how it is maintained through deep time. Despite important advances in
our understanding of the origin and diversification of Neotropical biota,
we still do not have a clear idea about the patterns of diversification
through geological time. This presents a significant knowledge-gap that
needs to be filled. Fossils are necessary to understand the history of the
Neotropical biota. From the perspective of plants, palynology represents
the best proxy to study the macroevolution of vegetation. Pollen and
spores fossilize readily, they are produced in large amounts, are found in
a widely variety of sedimentary environments and they have high
stratigraphic resolution. In this work, we used a compilation of
palynological information from Colombia to explore patterns of plant
diversification during the Cenozoic and their possible drivers. Changes in
global temperature had an important influence on the dynamics of
diversification, especially during volatile climate intervals.
Paleogeographic changes and regional geological events also had an
important role in modelling diversity. Origination and Extinction are
balanced on long time scale with pulses of extinction followed by rapid
floral replacement on a time scale of 1 Ma. The macroevolutionary history
of Neotropical vegetation is a complex puzzle that requires the
integration of data from multiple areas of research in biology and
earth-physical sciences. The purpose of our work is to provide a small
piece of evidence that helps to reconstruct this interesting puzzle.